


The Wall Military Academy

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Series: The Wall Military Academy [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arya!Whump, BAMF!Arya, Brotherhood, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, Emotional Whump, Family, Family Drama, Gen, Gun Violence, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Jon!Whump, Jon's Parentage, Language, Major Character Injury, Male-Female Friendship, Military Training, Nudity, Partnership, Sexual References, Survival, Survival Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 02:18:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 57,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7995055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Arya was sick of standing on the sidelines, so when females were finally allowed, she didn't miss her chance to join The Wall Military Academy. She never expected it to be easy, in fact, she relished the challenge. Excelling in her first-year class unit, she's moved up with the third-year recruits and partnered with a boy named Jon who reminds her of home. But being the best-of-the-best doesn't always mean you'll be liked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> Includes a brief history that is a mixture of truths and altered facts.

Twelve thousand years ago, the First Men arrived on the huge continent of Westeros and settled. But they were not alone. The Children of the Forest had lived on Westeros for thousands of years before. The two peoples fought over land rights and the cutting of the sacred weirwood trees that the Children of the Forest worshiped; until finally the Children of the Forest brought the First Men to a standstill and both parties agreed to sign a Pact of mutual peace and cooperation. It gave the Children of the Forest the rights to the deep forest land, and gave the First Men ownership of all other land in Westeros.

Under the promise that the First Men would never cut another weirwood, the Pact held firm for four thousand years in which the First Men adopted the Children of the Forest's religion of the Old Gods of the Forest.

Eight thousand years ago a great war took place during The Long Night, a season of winter that lasted a generation. Savages called White Walkers from the far North in the polar regions called The Land of the Always Winter, moved south and invaded Westeros. The peoples of Westeros rallied together and in a clash known as War of the Dawn, which lasted a generation and a night, where able to defeat the White Walkers and drive them back to the outermost North.

A powerful man called Brandon Builder constructed the Wall, a fortification that eventually would expand the complete 300 miles along the northern boarder of what became known as the Seven Kingdoms. North of the Wall became known as The Beyond.

... — ... ***{author's note: unlike the Wall in the series, this one is not made of ice but stone, as well as not even close to height, maybe a 100 feet tall. It was not built in one-night but probably took a hundred years to complete. It was a simple wall, acting as a blockade between the Seven Kingdoms and the North Beyond the Wall.}***... — ...

The Children of the Forest slowly died out by the time six thousand years ago with the Invasion of the Andals, implanting their own religion Faith of the Seven by cutting down the sacred weirwoods of the Old Gods. But the First Men fought back and eventually the Andals claimed the land in the south, and the First Men kept the north with the last of the weirwoods. After centuries of religious wars and stifles they eventually settled into a — sometimes uneasy — coexistence.

By this time several fortifications had been added to the Wall. 19 towers had been built spanning the whole 300 mile length of the Wall, five of those strongholds, each with their own names. Starting east of the Wall was Eastwatch(-by-the-Sea)[the _main port and re-supply post/shipyard_ ], Castle Black [ _The Wall's main headquarters_ ], Deep Lake, The Night Fort, and Shadow Tower [ _watch on the west_ ].

Granted by the ruling power of the Seven Kingdoms, the Wall was granted 150 miles of land immediately south of the Wall to provide the men with food and provisions. This group of men became known as the Sworn Brothers of the Night's Watch.

As the centuries passed, the Wall developed into the number one Military training depot in the Seven Kingdoms. The Gift became more than just food supply and provisions, but housed the officers and recruits with all their needs and as well as training grounds. 150 miles on the north side of the Wall was military land also used for training exercises, and beyond that was restricted area and fenced off to prevent recruits from going out of bounds and the people classified as "wildling" came no further. The wildings were a people that did not follow the laws of the Seven Kingdoms; the were essentially a cult—a self-identified group of people who share a narrowly defined interest or perspective, outcasts.

And today, it still functions as a training facility, where recruiting officers known as Wondering Crows go to all the high schools and colleges in the Seven Kingdoms once a year to recruit boys and men for what is now known as the Wall Military Academy.

And this year, is the first year that they are excepting female recruits.

_-tbc-  
_ **********Game/of/Thrones**********


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Set in muted modern world of North Winter High School, where gender equality is just coming into fruition, where The Starks live in a humble home in the City of Winterfell in the Country of Westeros, and the Wall is a military training depot/academy.**
> 
> **The Ages are listed as the following:  
>  Robb - 18  
> Sansa - 16  
> Arya - 15  
> Bran - 13  
> Rickon - 10  
> -**

**North Winter High School: The Athletic Proficiency Assessment Stadium**

 

It was a nice sunny Monday morning in July and already the City of Winterfell had been bustling busy since Friday, getting ready for the annual event that happened each July through the whole Country of Westeros.

Once a year, in all the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, there is a week-long event that's called Athletic Proficiency Assessment. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Well, Arya Stark thought that it was. In each of the main Cities starting South and moving North: Sunspear, Highgarden, Storm's End, Casterly Rock, King's Landing, Riverrun, The Eyrie, The Twins, and lastly, Winterfell the northern most country. For all the boys that attended the high schools, ages 15 to 18, the event was mandatory; the only way they could get out of it was if the had a broken limb, were dying or dead. The APA was a event that was mandated by the centuries ago Kings, and the present President for the military to recruit soldiers.

At these events, there was a recruiter from the Wall Military Academy that was dubbed a Wondering Crow, who watched the boys run the course and gave them recruitment offers to signed up for the Wall, which whiling training you as an officer, will give you a college/university education—it also came with pay.

This was a chance when all the "vultures" came, picking at the Wall Academy duds. Sport team scouts, police, firemen, all of them come as well and try to recruit the boys that the Wall failed to get, or they believed would succeed in their field.

The APA was like a spectator sport. It was in a open stadium-like structure with a field, bleachers, announcer booths, a digital score board that displayed at the boys' time rankings, and several big screens that showed the participants up close for the people in the bleachers and for official records and reference. All high schools in the country participated, even the small high school boys from the islands like Tarth, The Iron Islands, Dragonstone, and Bear Island come to the main land to the closest city where a APA Stadium was located and participated.

The Starks, just like all families with sons in high school attended, and sometimes even families that didn't. Robb, the eldest Stark son was participating once again in the APA course, and the whole family came to watch him. But it wasn't until the sixth day that his class was scheduled to make the course, so that was the day that the whole family went.

"When am _I_ going to have do this like Robb?" Rickon asked Arya as they waited at one of the entrances of the stadium as a slow, but steady stream of people, filed in, as the pair waited for their elder sister Sansa to hurry-up-and-get-there-already-before-all-the-good-seats-were-taken!

"When you turn fifteen, but that's not for a few years yet." She assured the small boy.

"But what if I don't want to?"

" _All_ high school boys _have_ to, Rickon, it's the law. If you don't... you might get arrested." She teased him.

"But I don't want to go to jail, Arya!" Rickon exclaimed, taking her seriously.

She put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "Just think of it as gym class, Rickon. Or a Track and Field event. Okay?"

"Those are kinda fun," the boy agreed.

"Yep," she ruffled his shaggy, flaming red hair, relieved. "You boys get to have all the fun, don't you?"

"If they let _you_ do it," Sansa said, catching up with the pair, "you'd probably beat them all. What an embarrassment."

"Unlike you, Sansa," Arya growled, "I have more goals in life than hanging around in the mall waiting for the next shoe sale."

"It's called being a _girl_ , you should try it sometime." She returned, with a _very_ lady-like sneer. "Come on, Rickon, lets go before her beastly behaviour rubs off on you." And the sixteen grabbed the boy's hand and lead him away from Arya to find a seat up in the stacked bleachers that surrounded the course, leaving the short girl behind.

Arya sighed and verged with the stream of people to find a seat for herself. She always liked finding a seat within the front three rows so that she could actually see what was happening with her own eyes, but when she couldn't, she had to rely on the announcer and screens which was always a drag.

She found a seat, on the third row, crammed between two men she didn't know. She had found her parents and siblings, minus Robb, two dozen rows back and hollered at them to draw their attention and show where she was so they didn't worry, and then waited to the event to begin.

Robb was 18 now, and this was his last year in high school. It would be his last forced APA course run. Next year, he wouldn't have to participate if he didn't want to. In the four years running the course, he always landed in the top twenty, but it was the top ten, top five that the Wandering Crows had a real interest in. Robb had been approached three times, and declined all three offers. He was going to go to university and become a businessman like their father. In two years, Bran would turn 15 and be in high school, and it would be his turn to run the course. By the time that Rickon ran his first course, Bran would be on his last—if he didn't take a recruitment offer by then that was.

She could see Bran's interest whenever their Uncle Benjen was able to visit them. Benjen had run the course back in his time when he was in high school and got a recruitment offer from a Wandering Crow, he declined twice, but it wasn't until after his older sister Lyanna died in what was supposed to be a non-violent protest, that he accepted in his third year. Now, several years later, he was First Officer under the Lord Commander of the Wall Academy, a Colonel of the Night's Watch. When he would visit the Stark residence, the two youngest boys and Arya would crowd around him, pestering until he told them some tales from the Wall. Rickon was just being a boy for now, interested in war stories, Bran seemed more into the history of the Wall, but Arya wanted to go there, she wanted to be an officer like her Uncle, to become what was known as a Night's Watchmen, a Crow, like the older man. But unlike for Robb, Bran, and Rickon, for her, it was just a silly dream.

The Wall only took male recruits, it always had and always would. It was a tradition—if one could call it that, more like sexist—and it always would be. Her mother was always on her about finding an interest in something that was more appropriate for her, and Arya always knew the woman was talking about her being a girl. Being a girl sucked for Arya, seriously. Why did the men get to do all the cool things? But she guessed that it was at least something that even though they didn't allow woman into the military, they had professional woman sport teams, and ten-years ago they started to allow female police officers, firemen and the like. Women, they were moving up in the world—bullshit, they should be equal with men, maybe even be above them, by now. It was all those male presidents and _kings_ , with their phallocentric ideals, and feelings of misogyny out of fear of the power that women could really handle and wield. She was a feminist because seriously—sometimes it was just disgusting.

" _Alriiiight, ladies and gentlemen, today is the sixth day of our annual APA event!"_ The announcer called out over the speakers and slowly all the din of bleachers died down _. "These last two days this year are pretty special because this morning I was just informed on a change to the event."_

Now _that_ had everyone’s undivided attention, in all these years, going way back to before her father's teen years of running the course, never had there been a change. People were muttering to each other in confusion as well as interest.

" _That's right folks, you heard it. I was informed, like all the other stadiums that the President and his Counsel members in had a meeting with the leaders of the Wall Military, have decided that this year_ — _this year on the last day of the APA event_ — _we are, for the first time in history, allowing the female student body of the high schools to sign up and run the course with a chance of being recruited by our assigned Wandering Crow!"_

Stunned silence filled the stadium for a very long moment as the announcer allowed this very shocking news to sink in with the couple thousand of people that lined the bleachers. And the news was stunning. Arya was shocked too. The thoughts that she had just been thinking, the thoughts she had had for years now... were the Old Gods finally listening to her? Had they heard her nightly prayers? She had always thought that something like this would happen, but not for years, and that by the time it did, she would be too old and lost her chance at a shot. But it wasn't happening in years, it was happening now. Now was her chance, what she had been waiting for.

The people in the bleachers started their mutters again. Some found this news very interesting, others just shrugged it off, and others were so outraged by the fact that females could now run the course that they got up and walked out of there.

"Yes!" Arya blurted in excitement, pumping her fist, people gave her looks but she didn't care.

" _Yes, I'll say it again. Female students are now allowed to take the course and be recruited into our military. I don't know about you folks, but to me, this looks like progress. I say our ladies deserve the chance to show what they're made off."_ The announcer voiced. " _And now, we'll begin with our first class of senior students. This will be their last year of running the course, everyone, so lets cheer them on. More information will be provided at the next intermission."_

For the next several hours, each senior class went through the course. Each boy ranked both by their time in finishing the course, and the skill with which each completed it. You would think that after three events, on their last and final run they would know the course and all the tricks and strategies that went along with it.

That was usually the part that Arya liked most, seeing all the mistakes, fumbles, screw ups that these boys made, their shity times. It made her so frustrated sometimes and happy and she knew that she could do it better than them if only she was _allowed_. But now she was going to be able to do it, and that was all she could think about. She barely had mind enough to realize that it was finally Robb's classes turn, but she pushed back her excitement and cheered on her brother. This was his last run and he deserved her attention, but that still couldn't stop her from imagining herself as one of those boys running the course with him.

_-tbc-_

**********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Key:**
> 
> The Wall = The biggest military training depot in all of Westeros.
> 
> Rankings = Colonel is under the command of the Lord Commander.
> 
> Athletic Proficiency Assessment or APA = the physical course test that grades each boy in high school from the age 15 to 18 in order to see if they are fit for the Wall Academy, or other such professions such as police, fireman, athlete; by order of the President with the leaders of the Military since the Wall was first became a training facility thousands of years ago.  
> \-- The APA Stadium is like the super bowl stadium, though not as fancy, one built in each of the major cities in Westeros.
> 
> Wondering Crow = A older, seasoned officer formerly of the Night's Watch contingent, who is charged with attending the APA annual events to recruit the boys with the best completion and time of the course.
> 
> Night's Watch = an elite contingent of military officers and soldiers (like the SEALs), called Crows.
> 
> The President = Robert Baratheon
> 
> His Counsel members = P. Baelish, Varys, Pycelle, Reny B., Stannis B., Jon Arryn.
> 
> **Notes on the Starks:**
> 
> _\-- Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women’s rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms._  
>  \-- Benjen join the Wall Academy after Lyanna’s death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night’s Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits.  
> \-- Robb declines the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to become a businessman and work for his father, Ned Stark.  
> Thanks for Reading! 


	3. Chapter 2

*****

**North Winter High School: The Athletic Proficiency Assessment Stadium**

 

Finally, the APA event for today was over. Robb placed high in the top ten again, but declined the offer Winterfell's designated Wandering Crow made him for the final and last time.

Arya weaved her way through the fast-moving exiting crowd of the Stadium, pushing her way to the edge of the crowd once they got outside and into the packed parking lot. Like every year, while they waited for Robb to get cleaned up so they could have a celebratory dinner that the young man was graduating high school and in a few short months would be going to Winterfall University for his business degree in order to work with their father.

She found them easily enough despite the crowd. For years they had always agreed to meet by the great and old weir wood tree that stood out of the way of the entrance if they ever got separated. It was like a beacon, even in the night, with bark bone white and dark read leaves that never shed for changed colour, no matter the season.

"Mum! Dad!" She ran up to her parents, a huge grin of excitement on her face. "Did you hear what they said?"

Sansa gave a small snort. "Of course that's the first thing you bring up."

Arya sent her a brief glare and turned back to her parents. "Isn't this great? I can—"

"You will be doing no such thing." Catelyn Stark spoke before her youngest daughter could speak.

"But—" Arya tried again.

"I said no, Arya. And I mean it." Catelyn spoke with no room for argument. "You are not doing that course."

"This has been my dream since I can remember. You can't just tell me no!”

"It was not meant for girls like you."

"They just announced that it was." She gestured back at the Stadium in frustration. Their argument was drawing attention, but the young teen didn't care, it was so unfair. "I am exactly the girl it was meant for."

"No, Arya. It's far too dangerous for a girl of your size, boys bigger and more capable than you have been injured. My answer if no, you will not be signing up tomorrow. You will stay at home with me."

"What?! That's completely unfair! Why wouldn't you want this for me? Why don't you want me to be happy?" Arya screamed, "I hate you! I hate you!" and she turned and ran.

"Arya!" Catelyn shouted after her, but Arya ignored the woman and kept running, pushing through the last of the crowd.

"Arya?" This time it wasn't her mother. "Arya!" Her arm was grabbed and she was jerked to a halt.

"Let me go!" She tried to wrench her arm free, but the grip was tight and firm.

"Arya, quit trying to pull away, it's just me." Arya looked at him proper and realized that it was just her brother. "What happened?"

Arya sighed and her shoulders slumped and Robb finally released her. "You heard the announcement, didn't you."

"Of course! Everyone heard that, isn't that awesome?"

"It is. But I barely brought up before mum said I couldn't." Arya was more depressed now than when she thought that she never have a chance, because she had one now, it was within her reach, but she couldn't touch it—she might as well be all the way in The Iron Islands.

"Mum's just being a hardass as always, Arya. Listen to what dad always tells us. Do what in you heart. If you fail, then try again until you don't." Robb shrugged and grinned at her suddenly. "When do you ever listen to mum anyways?"

Arya laughed just as suddenly. "You're right! I _never_ do listen to her, why should I start now?" She agreed. “It’s not like I actually need her permission anyways.”

Usually not the best advice to give a young sister, but this situation was different. Catelyn was an old fashioned woman, she believed that there was a firm line between what men and woman could do, there was no crossover with her. Eddard Stark had no such belief, women in his eyes could do anything a man can do—it was a wonder that two people with such opposite beliefs could have stayed married for so long—but that was love for you.

"Mother never listens to what I have to say, so why should I do any different? She couldn't stop me if she tried. She can't stop me from signing up and it's not her decision if I'm recruited to the military—in the end... it law." She murmured slyly.

Robb gave her a brief look, his arms wrapped around his chest. "It's your life, Ar. But I think it would be in both our best interests if she never found out that _I_ was the one who told you to basically ignore her authority as a parent and go behind her back about a decision that will pave the rest of your life, alright?"

She looked up at him open-mouthed. "Okay!" she chirped, grinning and chuckling.

"Now, come on. Let's get back before things get even worse." He put an arm around his little sister's shoulder and let them back to the rest of the family.

Sure. Arya would play nice for the rest of the night, but in the morning she would be out of the house and back at the Stadium, sighed up and ready for them all to eat her athletic skill. She would show them, her mum, all of those haters, what a girl could be made of. Just because she was small, didn't mean that she couldn't be powerful.

—

Arya had acted normal all that night, which after the fight with her mother trying to crush her only dream in life, was a muted fury towards the woman. She was still angry, despite the plan that Robb had helped give her. Catelyn just didn't seem to care that Arya wanted different things out of life than Sansa, who was like the perfect daughter, if a superficial one. All Sansa cared about were boys, clothes, shoes, the mall, her friends who were just as superficial and Prom next year. It was sickening that Catelyn wanted another daughter just like that, instead of one who was strong and wanted more out of her life than to be a dumb housewife.

When the family got back home to their five bedroom brownstone house, without another word she went up stairs to her room and shut the door a little louder than necessary, not able to miss the rolled eyes that Sansa sent her before she disappeared completely is the steps.

Her room was smaller than Sansa'a but she'd gotten over that long ago, it wouldn’t matter any more, not when she ran that course and got the best score in history. She wasn't disillusioned, it was a fact.

Their parents had their own room, so did Robb, Sansa, and Arya. Bran's room used to be father's study before the boy was born, but they had to make room for another babe in the house so the living room down stairs was altered so that half was Ned's home office and the other had the television and couch. And when Rickon was born and Bran got a permanent roommate in his little brother until Robb graduated University and moved out with his future girlfriend and his room was freed up. But maybe she would be gone before Robb, the thought didn't seem to bother her. She would gladly give her room to Rickon or Bran if it meant that she could become one of the first females to be recruited to the military.

She laid in her bed with the radio playing on the local station and tossed the old beaten rugby ball. It was a hand-me-down from Robb. Rugby was an all male sport, no females allowed. Her parents never would have given her her own ball. All of Robb's old things, if they weren’t in a complete wreck, would pass down the line to Bran and Rickon, sometimes Arya too, if she could snake something like this old ball that the older teen had had since middle school. He'd past it on because he quit the North Winter High's Rugby Team so that he could concentrate on his studies to see to it that he graduated.

There was a knock at her door and she groaned, but continued to toss the ball above her head with enough force that it skimmed the roof and tumbled back down towards her face before catching it again. "Go away," she called, tossing the ball up. "I want to be left alone." She caught the ball.

"Arya, it's dad. I really wanted to talk with you about tomorrow, if that's alright?" Ned's deep voice came clear through the closed door. He didn't have to raise his voice to be heard, he never did; his voice carried and was always heard, even if he spoke quietly—that was one of the reasons why he was such a good businessman and boss.

"Okay. You can come in." She said. She was afraid of what he might say, despite what Robb had convinced her of earlier. But if it was any consolation to her brother so he wouldn't trouble himself over it, once she had calmed down a bit from her anger and unfairness of it all, she could have come up with the idea herself.

As Ned opened her door and stepped in, closing it again behind him, she sat up cross-legged on her bed. "How are you, sweetheart? You ran straight up to your room the second we got home." He said down on the edge of her bed, making the bedsprings squeak under his superior weight.

"Why doesn't mum understand that this is something that I want?" Arya blurted, unable to hold her outrage back. "How can she be so narrow minded about things?"

"Your mother was raised in the South, on a different Faith than ours. This is their way, where genders have a specific role in the world. Despite their Gods being new, they are old fashioned, and despite our Gods being old, they are more open to interpretation. You cannot hold your mother's beliefs in rage because of her different religion." Ned told her evenly.

Arya groaned. "Faith has nothing to do with it! Uncle Edmure was raised on the same religion, but he's not like her. She's so uptight, just like Aunt Lysa."

"Arya, that is no way so speak about your mother!" Ned rebuked her, his expression hard—but he said nothing about Lysa because she was uptight and rather unfriendly.

"I'm sorry," Arya looked away in a flash of shame. "But she can't do this to me, I won't let her! It's my life, not hers." She looked back at her father, her expression firm.

Ned's face softened ever so slightly. "She's just being a mother, Arya, the best way she knows how. She lost her mother when she was Bran's age, she'd doing this all on her own with five kids. She's trying to protect you."

"But I don't _need_ to be protected!" Arya protested.

Ned chuckled dryly at that. "You are hot-headed, bull-headed, stubborn, indignant, strong, fearless, cunning, pretty, reckless, and prone to getting into trouble." He told her fondly, caressing his daughter's cheek with the back on his knuckles.

"You called me stubborn twice." She muttered.

He smiled. "That's because you are, little wolf. That's because you are,"

"Did you have a point to all of that?" She crossed her arms over her small chest.

"Yes," He took his hand back. "You are a wild child, and that scares your mother and I to death."

"That's just who I am, I can't help it!" she objected.

"I know—Your mother knows." Ned nodded, and looked at her seriously. "And that's why I know that you've been holding your tongue all through dinner and tonight because in the morning, you're going to sneak out of the house and sign up to do that miserable course."

Arya looked at him open-mouthed before she could stop herself. "How'd you—"

"Because I know you. All these years of saying how unfair it is that girls aren't allowed to participate in the event and be recruited to the Wall like your Uncle Benjen was, I knew. Just like after you ran off earlier upset and came back with Robb silent, I knew that he gave you the idea. Robb can be a honest idiot sometimes."

Arya couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Please don't blame Robb, I would have come upon the idea myself if he hadn't gotten there first.”

Ned sighed. "I know, and I won't. But I'll subtly punish him for telling you to ignore you mother. I suppose I might never understand why you want to be trapped doing this for the rest of your high school years, but what I do know is that you think that you have to prove yourself, you don’t. Never to us, sweetheart, never to us."

"Are you going to ground me?" She asked quiet, resigned.

"No."

She looked at him in surprise. "Y... you're not?"

Ned shook his head and put a firm hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I'm going to drive you to the Stadium, and me and Robb will watch you do that course. I'll be video taping it so I can show off how my little girl beat even the best of the boys."

"Really?" Arya perked right up and grinned at her father. "Thank you, daddy. Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around his neck, jumping into his waiting arms.

"I believe in you, little wolf." He murmured, pecking her long locks of brown hair lovingly.

And she was going to do it too, she would show them all.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I know that in all my Game of Thrones fics, it seems I always depict Catelyn Stark as what can probably be read as a hardass, strict, even callous and uncaring mother in what her children (especially Arya it always seems) want, but she only acts this way because she wants what she believes is best for her children's future happiness and safety. While Ned comes across as the awesome, loving, understanding, trusting father. Or in simpler terms: Bad Cop & Good Cop.**
> 
> The Wall = The biggest military training depot in all of Westeros. It is a Academy that takes on recruits for four years of training (the length of high school). The Military has complete control over itself, not the President of the Seven Kingdoms.  
>  _\-- While the Wall is independent from Westeros, they need the President to implement these such actions on the Country. Such as: the APA course etc._
> 
> Athletic Proficiency Assessment or APA = the physical course test that grades each boy in high school from the age 15 to 18 in order to see if they are fit for the Wall Academy, or other such professions such as police, fireman, athlete; by order of the President since the Wall was first became a training facility thousands of years ago.  
>  _\-- The APA Stadium is like the super bowl stadium, though not as fancy, one built in each of the major cities in Westeros.  
>  \-- Just allowed females to participate and join the military._
> 
> Wondering Crow = A older, seasoned officer formerly of the Night's Watch contingent, who is charged with attending the APA annual events to recruit the boys with the best completion and time of the course.
> 
> Notes on the Starks:
> 
> _\-- Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women’s rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms.  
>  \-- Benjen join the Wall Academy after Lyanna’s death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night’s Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits.  
> \-- Robb declines the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to go to Winterfall U. and become a businessman so he can work for his father, Ned Stark._
> 
> **Thanks for Reading!**


	4. Chapter 3

**North Winter High School: The Athletic Proficiency Assessment Stadium**

Ned kept his word from the previous night, and with Arya and Robb in tow, drove down to the APA Stadium. She wore athletic shorts and a shirt, a sports bra underneath, running shoes on her feet, and her long brown hair bound tight in a pony at the crown of her head. It was early, but the parking lot was already crowded. Arya wasn't sure if many girls would have wanted to sign up like she had, but maybe she had been wrong—that, or all these people were spectators wanting for a show. Arya chose to ignore them and went up to one of the Stadium Officials and signed up, filing out the waver that said she took full responsibility for any harm of any sort that she might come by the Stadium was not liable. She was assigned a number, it was this that would show on the placement board; 114—her new favourite number.

And injuries had happened before, in fact, they happened all the time—with medical professionals standing by. Twisted ankles, broken limbs, hospitalizations, even some deaths had happened in the past. That was what her mother was afraid of. That was why Catelyn hated coming to the Stadium each year to watch her first born son run the course, because she hated that something like that might happen to him and she couldn't stand that. But Arya wasn't afraid, she was going to hold the course record if it killed her.

For all she knew, this was just a trial run, allowing females to run the course. She'd never really thought about it until now, but now she couldn't stop. This could be her one and only chance. If not enough girls signed up, or if one was killed running the course, then they for sure would cancel the decision to allow girls the chance to do the APA like the boys, and join in the military. So she was going to put her all into this.

The course's best completion time was held still by the Starks. Ned's late older brother Brandon, Bran's namesake, completed the course in under half-an-hour—00(h): 29(m): 37(s). He was killed in a hit and run incident outside the bar where he had gone to celebrate the best record in the north and his recruitment to the Wall on his last run of the course.

The general finish time for the average teen was a hour to one-hour ten-minutes. That was why the event lasted a week, starting well in the morning and ending into the night, when the stadium floodlights were turned on. The boys dreaded running the course at the end, but they had little choice when it came to their turn. The times changed with each new year because you moved a grade up. The juniors always went in the morning and at noon, but they would put run a senior class or two up when it grew dark and colder, lit by floodlights, making it all that more difficult.

Arya planned to keep that place as a Stark, she wasn't going to let anything foil her plans. She had drank a bottle of water and ate some saltine crackers to have something in her stomach this morning. She had seen boys in the middle of running the course drop to their knees and throw-up, if that happened, they were disqualified. No way was Arya going to barf.

More girls than she would have thought signed up, like her, eager for a chance to be equal with the boys of their schools. If it had just been North Winter High School, it probably would have been under twenty, there was at least that many girls that she knew from school, but it wasn't like she knew every single face. She estimated that a little under two-hundred girls had signed up, and that was just in Winterfell, who knew how many other their were in the other cities like Casterly Rock and King’s Landing.

Because there were as many girls as there was, the Stadium Officials decided to run them like they had all the boys. So after sorting all the girls by their grades, they started the event. Five girls at a time would run the course, watched by a eagle-eyed timers, when that group was half-way finished the course, another five girls would run it with their own time keepers and so on until that grade of girls were finished. There would be a short intermission to tally the times, and then the next grade up group of girls would run the course and so on.

Arya was fifeteen so she was in the first class of girls to run the course. She grew a little nervous now that it was happening, now that her moment had come. The Official at the start blew a loud whistle, and the first five girls lined up were off. Was she chocking? That was absurd. She was Arya Stark, and Starks never chocked. She took a deep breath and stretched herself out, calming herself down in the third row of girls.

Twenty-feet from the start point, their was a double row of a dozen tires to step through. After that was the wall twenty-feet tall that was to be climbed by net. Other side of the wall was the belly crawl in mud under a wire net. Next was the rope swing that transformed into spaced bars over a pit of water in the ground that was twenty-feet long. Some more tires. The balance beam that had the cushion of mud underneath. And finally, the 2 mile run around the field in the Stadium.

The course that Robb had run for the last time last night, and now she was going to do it as the first girl in the Stark family. She'd stretched all the useless stress from herself and was able to watch the group of nervous girls in front of her start off. They made it through the tires okay, a few stumbles but no face plants. Arya and the four other girls moved up to the start line when the group ahead of them hit the wall, it was a struggle, but after nearly ten minutes, they dropped onto the other side and into the belly crawl.

Arya took a breath, calming her pounding heart, _don't think too much into it_. Like whether or not Winterfell's assigned Wandering Crow was here to check out the girls as candidates for the Military. That wasn't what mattered right now, she needed to focus on the here and the now. She readied herself, any moment now.

The Official blew a sharp, shrill whistle and she was off in an instant, like a hair-trigger. She wasn't the first to hit the tires, but it didn't bother her, she'd planed it that way. Most first-timers, like these girls, went hard in the start, and that was why they lost all their wind by the time that they got to the belly crawl. She'd been watching the APA since she was younger than Rickon, she hadn't just been watching for entertainment, she'd been study for this day, the day when she could run the course herself instead of watching her brother year after year. But a girl fell at the tires and Arya leapt over her and she stayed first in her little group the rest of the course. She climbed the wall fast because she knew to step on the rope with the arch in her shoes. She got through the belly crawl easy enough covered in mud because of her smaller size. The rope and bars were made a little more difficult because her grip was compromised from the mud that covered her and the equipment from the other girls, but she never slipped into the water like all four of the girls in her group behind her. She took the second set of tires, her legs wide and quick, passing a girl or two from the group ahead of her to the balance beam. She didn't have to think about it, to hesitate or spread her arms out at either of her sides like most of the other girls; she just didn't stop so she didn't wobble and fall into the mud, and instead jumped down lightly on the other side and straight off into the 2 mile run. It was here that she took her complete lead. Arya may have been small, but she was always quick. Even the very first group of girls were still on the run, and she went head-to-head with this other girl that was way in the lead and she'd put on a new burst of speed when she heard Arya coming. But Arya would not—could not be beaten. She was going to win this with the best time, and not be outdone by a girl who didn't even go to North Winter High School.

Arya dug into her reserves and put on a burst of speed of her own, overtaking the other girl at the last second before collapsing to the ground, her lungs burning, gasping for air at the finish.

" _And_ that _ladies and gentlemen was an amazing start to this new addition to the annual APA event!"_ the announcer cheered.

Arya was helped up by a medic and lead to the benches off to the side to be checked over as always happened to every boy, and now girl it seemed, who finished or didn't finish the APA course. After being deemed healthy, she was given a towel, a cold bottle of water, a piece of fruit, and then left her alone, on the bench that started to quickly fill up with muddy girls like herself. She ate her fruit and drank her water happily, not caring about the mud as she caught her breath.

It was almost two hours later that all the girls from her class completed the course and lined the side benches, covered in mud and sweat, recovering their breaths. A few twinged ankles and knees, and two girls throwing up were all the injuries for the first group. And now was a moment of truth, the tally and first displayed times.

Her knees were a little shaky, but she stood anyways, she couldn't stay sitting for this.

" _Alright folks, the first group of girls are finished the course without serious injuries, just a few minor sprangs, we have our first course times of the day! There were fifty girls in the first group, minus two girl for throwing up, seven walked out before finishing the course, and two couldn't complete the course due to injuries; leaving thirty-nine girls who completed the APA course. Okay, lets look at these times girls! Our lowest time we have #67 with a time of_ 01(h): 48(m): 37(s). _Too bad, but it was still a great time for a first-timer._

  1. #111—00(h): 59(m): 57(s).   
9\. # 46—00(h): 56(m): 52(s).  
8\. # 76—00(h): 53(m): 49(s).   
7\. # 120—00(h): 52(m): 12(s).   
6\. # 47—00(h): 51(m): 31(s).   
5\. # 98—00(h): 51(m): 23(s).   
4\. #17—00(h): 48(m): 15(s).  
3\. #123—00(h): 42(m): 48(s).   
2\. #53—00(h): 35(m): 00(s).



_Wow, folks, these are some awesome times we have here for these girls. The top two bested even the boys' times that we've had this year._ _And with the best time so far, just seventeen seconds less than #53 is_ 1\. #114—00(h): 34(m): 42(s). _We come back with the second group in ten minutes everyone!"_

Arya couldn't believe it. She done it! She'd actually done it. That had been all she wanted, well, half of what she always wanted. Running the course, getting the best time in her group, she'd just have to see at the end if she got the best out of all the girls. The other half of what she wanted was to be recruited to the Wall Academy and train to be a part of the elite force, The Night's Watch, and become a Crow soldier. Now _that_ was the true pipe dream. Letting females into the military? She was surprised that they had finally allowed girls this one opportunity to prove themselves in the first place.

She left the benches with the other girls, all congratulating each other as they filed into the Stadium showers to clean up. She didn't think it was possible to feel a sense of accomplishment and yet feel like a failure. But she did.

Ned and Robb flagged her down from the crowd in the bleachers and she started to make her way towards them, but was stopped at the foot of the stair.

"Girl," someone called behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder, stopping and turning as she saw a sour-looking older man. She knew instantly who he was by the black military uniform, that had a Night's Watch Crow unit badge on the shoulder. It was Winterfell's APA Stadium's assigned Wandering Crow.

Her breath was stolen from her body. "Yes?"

"Ranger Yoren," he said gruffly. "A girl that's faster than most _boys_. If you ever want to become a Crow like me, just sign this." He held out an envelope to her.

She reached out and took it, not even remembering doing it, and then he turned and left. She watched open mouthed until he disappeared long out of sight. Was it for true? She was in shock, her fingers gripping the envelope so tight she bent the paper.

"Arya!" Someone was stomping down the steps as a whistle was blown and the second line of girls from the next group took their chance in the course. They grabbed her shoulder and turned her around and she was looking up at Robb. "What happened, why are you just standing there? Who were you taking to?" He finally noticed what was in her hand. "I can't believe it! That sour roach actually approached you?" Robb reached for the envelope in her fingers.

She finally came back to herself and pulled the envelope out of his reach. "You already had your chance, Robb, you're not taking mine."

He looked at her in surprise for a second before he chuckled softly. "You're right, Arya. This was all you. You did a great job, by the way. Now lets go tell dad the good news," he put an arm around her shoulder much like he had done the other day and starting leading her up the steps to where they had been sitting. "Because Gods know that it's going to be the next easiest thing you do tonight."

When Robb and Arya sat back down at the bleachers with their father, Ned knew instantly what had happened. When Arya told him though, he had trouble controlling his face and emotions. His elder brother Brandon was about to join the Wall Academy before he was killed by a hit and run. Ned himself was going to join as well, but ultimately decided against it because he met Catelyn, and then had Robb, and now he had four more children that he cherished as well. His young brother Benjen joined after their sister Lyanna was killed while protesting for what his daughter had done tonight; women being seen as equals. Benjen was not married though, nor did he had sons or daughters. And now his youngest daughter… Catelyn was going to be hysterical over this when she found out, but Ned knew that this was what his daughter wanted most in the world, even when he just wanted to hold her close.

They stayed until the end because Arya wanted to see which girl got the best time. She had to admit, she was getting nervous. Some of the girls were getting pretty close to her time, within seconds even. If she was beaten, would the Wall still want her? She knew that it was ridiculous, but could help it. She was close, so close. But she needn't have been worried in the end, she held the number one spot. The closest time was from a girl in the last group, when the sky was growing dim and the floodlights had been turned on; #77 00(h): 34(m): 58(s), twenty-six seconds over Arya’s time, it was rather close.

—

The instant the three Starks finally returned home, Catelyn came right for them. She knew where they had gone and what they had done when she found them missing in the morning. She was upset, angry, frustrated. She was disappointed in her first and eldest son, he had reason enough not to go to the Wall, but how could he help his little sister join that place?—she sent him to his room. She felt angry and betrayed by her husband, unable to see how he would willingly want to send his daughter to that place. With Arya, she was just exhausted about it all. She knew her daughter was going to place high in the course, the girl had even told her her top place, but just because the young teen could do it, didn't mean that Catelyn wanted her child to do it.

But the problem about the whole this was—Arya had gotten the offer and that was that. As long as teens from the ages of 15 to 18 had the official recruitment offer on paper, such as the girl had in the envelope, the parents permission or consent was not needed—a law driven by the President of the Seven Kingdoms. Catelyn dearly hoped that that man burned in the Seven Hells of her Faith. She was helpless as her youngest daughter left her and the rest of her family to serve a Country that just yesterday recognized the strength and worth in her that Catelyn had since she first held the babe in her arms.

 _-tbc-_   
**********Game/of/Thrones**********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I’m not really sure whether or not those course times are actually realistic or not, but they are what they are.**
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> APA Course = Twenty-feet from the start point, their was a double row of a dozen tires to step through. After that was the wall twenty-feet tall that was to be climbed by net. Other side of the wall was the belly crawl in mud under a wire net. Next was the rope swing that transformed into spaced bars over a pit of water in the ground that was twenty-feet long. Some more tires. The balance beam that had the cushion of mud underneath. And finally, the 2 mile run around the field in the Stadium. 
> 
> Recruiting Rules = If a male/female is in the age range of 15-18 and want to join the Wall, they need their parents/guardians permission; but the do not if the get an official recruitment form from a Wandering Crow.
> 
> Wandering Crow = The Wander Crow assigned to the Winterfell Stadium is none other than Yoren!
> 
> **Notes on the Starks:**
> 
> _\-- Brandon holds the best male course time in Winterfell, with 00(h): 29(m): 37(s). He was killed in a hit and run incident outside the bar where he had gone to celebrate the best record in the north and his recruitment to the Wall on his last run of the course.  
>  \-- Ned did not join the Wall because of Catelyn and then his new born son Robb.  
> \-- Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women’s rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms.  
> \-- Benjen join the Wall Academy after Lyanna’s death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night’s Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits.  
> \-- Robb declines the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to go to Winterfall U. and become a businessman so he can work for his father, Ned Stark.  
> \-- Arya has the best female course time in history with 00(h): 34(m): 42(s), and is one of the first females to be recruited to the Wall Academy._
> 
> **Thanks for Reading.**


	5. Chapter 4

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

 

Arya was awed by the Wall. Since she was a small girl, she'd wanted to visit it but outsiders were never allowed in. So she always begged Uncle Benjen when he came for a visit—which was only a few times a year—to bring pictures and pamphlets and the sort. He did what he could, and she had a small box full that she had stored under bed of them. She couldn't and didn't take it with her—why have a picture when you could see the real thing?

There was a bus that departed from the Winterfell Stadium and all other Stadiums at the end of the week, to ship the new Wall recruits to the Wall. There was a bus for the boys, and another bus this year that took the girls that had been recruited as well. Arya wasn't sure how she felt when she got onto the bus with nothing but the clothes on her back, to find that the bus was three-quarters full, nearly thirty girls. She wondered how full the other buses from the other City Stadiums would be.

It was two days before they got to the Wall way up North, passing by towns like The Dreadfort, Karhold, Last Hearth, before finally reaching The Gift of the Wall. The buses from Winterfell were the first to arrive, Cities like Sunspear would take up to a week, being at the compete other end of the Country in respect to the Wall.

The Gift was land owned by the Wall Academy, divided into two parts. The section of land closest to the Wall was simply called Brandon’s Gift (after Brandon Builder, the creator of the Wall), and section nearest the freeway, the King's Road, was called the New Gift, for the land was given to the Wall more recently a couple thousand years ago. The New Gift was where the bus pulled into after the security inspection at the guarded gate.

The girls and boys both filed from the bus, and two instructors, one for the girls, one for the boys, greeted them. His name was Rodrik Cassel, he was an officer who had been at the Wall since he was 20. He had a belly on him now, and big grey sideburns at continued on around his chin. Arya was sure that he wasn't always like this, because there was no way that they would pass a fat man. Did each year he was here, he would loosen a notch on his belt?

Both groups were lead into the receiving building, before being separated in different parts of the building. It was here where the new recruits officially become a cadet of the Wall. Personal belongs were catalogued and searched for contraband which could be anything from a magazine to a bouncy-ball. Arya had nothing to worry about because all she had on her was an old iron coin that she had since she was a kid—she could never remember where she had gotten it, but it was special to her if anything. What was not contraband, was religious paraphernalia, like the heart tree of the Old Gods of the Forest that she wore around her neck, just in case, that was where she'd put the iron coin so that it wouldn't be taken. Physical examination was next, to see if the new recruits were actually as healthy as they claimed to be.

The Wall Academy had always been a male institute. Up until now, females had never worked there, or even walked there. It just never happened. But along with female recruits now allowed at the Wall, female staff had been hired, like doctors and nurses. There were no female military officers or drill sergeants in the place. The new female recruits here this year, like Arya, would be the first female officers of the Wall—if they lasted the four years that is.

The head female doctor was an older woman who looked rather mean, a devote of the Seven, Doctor Mordane. Her attendant, the nurse practitioner, was a young woman named Talisa, who was a very friendly person. She was like the sun to Mordane's dark side of the moon, but then anybody would be compared to that old woman. Arya felt thoroughly violated by the time that lady let her got, no longer in her own clothing but that of a new recruit, a cadet of the Wall in a fresh set of plain green battle dress uniform or simply BDU. The breast was blank but for a leaf pin dubbing her a new recruit, a first-year. After the twenty-five of them had been processed and cleared, Rodrik took them on a complete tour of the Gift.

The New Gift held the parking lot, receiving area for new recruits and most of the on-grounds training facilities, while Brandon's Gift next to the Wall held all the housing for the officers, barracks for the first-, second-, and third-year recruits [the fourth-year recruits housed in the Nightfort tower at the Wall in their double sleep cells/the partners from their third-year], the mess hall, the bathhouses, laundry facilities, storage, wreck rooms, and gardens. And afterward, the Wall Academy. It was a building to behold, it took your breath away.

Castle Black was the main building. It was the biggest and most traversed, eight smaller towers to the West, and then the Shadow Tower the look-out building, eight smaller towers to the East, and there was the Eastwatch-by-the-sea which looked out on the Bay of Seals. It was the Naval section of the Wall Academy, it was the shipyard that docked the Wall's ships as well as got supplies that couldn't be found on Westeros, or a quicker transport from all the way down South. They would not see the Beyond until their second-year—and there would be no tour.

It was hardly after 8:00 p.m. or 2000 as they were supposed to call it now, by the time that the girls were shown to their barracks, the sky just turning grey. This was their home now. It was a long rectangle building that held twenty sets of bunk beds with a footlocker at the foot of the bed. That footlocker was all the privacy they were going to get. They got assigned beds, and then it was lights-out.

Arya lay on her back staring up at the underside of the mattress above her, slightly indented from the girl's weight. She was wide awake, despite all the excitement of the day. She was here, this was where her dream was. She was going to hold onto it, not matter what, even if that meant only seeing her family a few times a year like Uncle Benjen—she loved them, but this was her dream and it was going to become her life. With that bitter sweet thought in mind, she turned over onto her side and drifted off into sleep—she was going to need it...

...Arya startled awake into the darkness, girls yelling in shock and fear as they were all so rudely awakened by a their instructor Rodrik standing in the middle of the barracks, a trumpet at his lips. He turned on the lights and they all blinked into the brightness, but calmer now that they knew what the hell had happened.

"Up and at 'em, ladies!" Rodrik bellowed and blew into the horn again. Arya and a few other girls leapt to their feet, completely alert while the rest of the girls still looked confused. "This isn't some pretty-in-pink sleep over party, this is the Wall. We don't sleep about when there's marching to be had and right now there is. On your feet, I said. Now, let's go, on your feet!" He blasted the horn again and the rest of the girls got to their feet. They started to put on their BDU's on from their foot lockers, but Rodrik kept at the horn, blare, blast, blam. "Boots! Now! Go! Out that door, run right now! This isn't a request!"

He rushed them outside and they started a fast, sloppy march in the dark night light only by the moonlight and security lights, the group of girls in various states of undress in the cold night. They weren't the only ones either, the boys from Winterfell Stadium were at it too, with their own instructor barking at them along with his assistant Officer Jory Cassel, a young man who happened to be his nephew. Around all the barracks in Brandon's Gift, marching in the night, shouting instructors the only voices in the night. A few hours later they were finally directed back to their barrack, exhausted, aching, grimy and shivering from the cold sweat.

Arya collapsed into her bunk, and fell back to sleep soon after. It had felt like only seconds that she had her eyes closed before Rodrik was back again, this time for the wake-up call at 0500. And for all Arya knew, it had only been a couple hours since their march.

They were dragged out of bed, ordered to square-away their areas (make the bed etc.), before instructed to go shower-up before grub-time. They had half-an-hour to do both. It was while Arya was stark naked, surrounded by other stark naked girls, washing in cold water, too tired to care about all the nudeness, that she realized this was what must be the start of what was commonly referred to in new recruit training as—Hell Week.

Uncle Benjen had told her about it once, when she asked about him joining the Wall. It was the first week in a new recruits training that determines whether they would make-it or break-it. Hell Week was a shock to the persons system, suddenly turning their world upside-down with random-timed drills, interrupted sleep, insane time-limits and lots and lots of hollering and horn blowing. If you couldn't survive through Hell Week, the sudden immersion into Military life, then you had no right to be at the Wall in the first place.

But Arya was tough. She could endure, she knew she could. She had waited for this her whole life and there was no way that she was going to fall victim to seven days of Hell. It was a stupid name in the first place.

She learned quick enough how true the name was though. She hardly remembered those seven days. They blurred together. Marches, drills, exercises, wake-up calls, inspections, punishments, cold showers and bad meals. There was no time for thinking, just do do do.

That was the whole point of Hell Week, though, wasn't it? To condition the new recruits to take orders without thought, without question. To let you body do the work.

The other buses from the other Stadiums arrived a few days into her Hell Week, but she hardly had enough energy or time to care as they also started their own Hell Week. By the end of Winterfell's, six girls had dropped out and gone home, and who knew how many more from the other groups.

All she knew was that Hell Week was finally over, and in the end, out of all the girls from all the Stadiums in the Seven Kingdoms, nearly one-hundred girls survived Hell Week. And now the real training could begin, the rest of her life could begin.

After Hell Week, Arya was ready for anything. She would take on anything, could do anything. She was in this life now, until the end.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Key:**
> 
> The Wall = Thousands of years ago it was a defence against the White Walkers, an invading and savage race, but has long turned into the top military recruitment training depot and base in Westeros. It's rival is the Military outlet across the Narrow Sea that train soldiers called the Unsullied.
> 
> The Gift = The Gift is a section of land before the Wall of 150 miles that house and train the new recruits and Wall officers.  
> The Beyond = The Beyond refers to the 150 miles of land after the Wall that is fenced off from the rest of the true-North and used as training ground for recruits by using the different terrains the land has to offer. Such as: mountains, forests, tundra and the extreme cold weather.
> 
> The Land of Always Winter = This is what lays after the Beyond (the fenced in training area), it is the land where the White Walkers came from to invade the Seven Kingdoms before it became the Seven Kingdoms, and where they were driven back to at the end of the Long Night and War of the Dawn, and have not been seen since.  
> \-- The Wildlings live in the area that is between the Beyond and the Land of Always Winter.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So, you've been waiting for Jon to appear, right? Well, I'm going to plop him down into your laps suddenly. Enjoy!**
> 
> **The Ages are listed as the following:  
>  Robb - 18  
> Sansa - 16  
> Arya - 15  
> Bran - 13  
> Rickon - 10  
> -  
> Jon - 17  
> -**

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

Arya was uneasy. It had been six months since Hell Week and the number of girl cadets had declined by half. Some couldn’t take the intimidation of the drill instructors, some got injured or their bodies simply gave out, others couldn't take the constant pressure of it all. Arya wasn't like them. She excelled under pressure, and though she was very defiant, she wasn't going to openly defy Rodrik, not with her dream at stake, so she took the orders and complied like any good soldier. She threw herself into the marches and drills, her marksman skills, navigational skills, all of it, she excelled, top of all the girls. They seemed to hate her for it though, the other girls, but Arya didn't care, she wasn't hear to make friends, she was here to become the first female member of the elite Night's Watch, a Crow. She wasn't going to let anyone get in her way for anything, even if she had to be a lone-wolf or a robot.

That was why she was perplexed right now. She hadn't done anything wrong, so why was she at Castle Black, which acted as the administration building for the Lord Commander and all his ranking officers?

She sat in a row of empty seats against the wall, the desk of Officer Jafer Flowers across from her, in a grey BDU, his name on the breast and multiple pins, he didn't pay her any attention at all. She sat with her back straight, at attention, her hands clasped in her lap, her expression blank. She stared at the wall on the other side of the hall—she wasn't in trouble, she'd done nothing wrong.

"Cadet, you can go in now." Flowers told her suddenly, looking up.

"Yes, sir." She stood, and he went to the door next to his desk and opened it for her.

She stepped into the office, a desk at the closed window, the chair with the back turned to her. "Cadet Stark, reporting as requested, sir." She said, standing at attention.

"At ease," the voice held amusement and she recognized it instantly.

"Uncle Benjen?!" she gasped in surprise. "I-I mean... Colonel Stark."

"It's good to finally be able to see you, Arya." Benjen turned the chair around to face her.

It was true, the six months that she had been at the Wall, she hadn't seen the man once. She wondered how that could be, but knew that it was because of her constant training, and being the second-in-command of an Academy and Compound of this size kept Benjen as busy as her. She should have realized that his was his office, his name would have been the door, but she hadn't looked for it like she should have, and Flowers blocked it from view when he let her in. She felt like an idiot.

"You, too... um?" she seriously wasn't sure what she was supposed to call him.

"Well, I see you have a lot to talk about." He laughed lightly, standing and coming around the front of his desk, leaning his ass back against the edge.

"Uncle, I—"

He waved her explanation away. "I was a cadet, too, once. I know what the life is like, it consumes you, becomes the fire in you blood."

Arya nodded, he got it like her mother never could.

"That's why I called you in,"

"Am I in trouble? Should I tone it down?" she was incredulous.

"Whoa! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, okay? But since you mentioned it, is there something that I should know about?"

"What? No way!... sir."

He gave her a smile and then his expression turned serious and he stood up from leaning back on his desk. "You've been doing good work here, Arya. You've advance well ahead of the other cadets in your group—it's almost frightening, really—that's why I've decided to extract you from the first-year girls group and partner you with Jon Snow, he's one of our best third-year cadets—like you."

"What! I don't need a babysitter!" She protested.

He shook his head. "Jon's not a babysitter."

"So you say," she muttered. "But you're not giving any of the others a 'partner'."

He chuckled lightly. "No, you're right. First years stay in group units. It's only until you advance to the second year that you get separated into partners, but even then it's only cadets in the same year. Jon is third-year. Arya, you're only _15;_ you came to the Wall half a year ago and have advanced to a third-year ranking. Under Jon and mine's tutelage, you can become the youngest Crow in history, not just the first female. This is a grand achievement, not some ploy of mine because I am your uncle. A girl, my niece, it does not matter. No one gets special treatment here, no one—that's how men get killed."

Aray thought about it for a moment, thought back and realized that Benjen was right. No special treatment had been thrown her way, in fact, because she was named Stark and was one of the handful of girls that had been accepted, she was thrown into the mud as often as she turned a corner.

Yeah, it hadn't been long before the other recruits found out her last name was Stark, just like the second-in-command at the Wall, and not for a second did they believe that she wasn't getting special treatment. She got here by herself, by her own power, not her Uncle, she never believed that for a second.

If she had thought things had been tough before, they were going to be hell once her first-year cadets found out, the second-years too, but especially the third-yars. And what about this Jon Snow? How was he going to feel about being partnered through the rest of training with a first-year—and a girl at that.

She sighed. "Do I have a choice?"

"No in the least." He told her cheerfully.

"Is this fun for you? Like some sick pleasure? Torturing the cadets under you."

"Come now, _cadet,_ is that any way to treat your _superior officer_?"

"I knew it," she muttered, but stood at attention anyways.

"I'll decide not to reprimand you for that little comment... Flowers!" he hollered, "Get Snow in here, on the double."

"Aye, sir!" came the voice beyond the door from Benjen's attendant.

"No need to look so worried, Arya."

"I'm not!" Arya denied. "This is just the rest of my life you're playing with."

"Arya, you have the potential to be the best. So don't you want to grab every advantage that you can?" Benjen asked.

She eyed him for a long moment, her hands tightening at her sides for a moment before they relaxed again. "Yes, sir."

"Sir, I have Jon Snow for you." Flower reported, opening the door and gesturing the teen into the room before closing the door again.

"Cadet Snow, reporting, sir." The older teen stood at attention next to Arya.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He had dark glossy hair that was curly and waving at the same time, with dark brown eyes, a clean shaven chin as was regulation for male cadets. And inch or so shorter than Benjen, he was lean but muscled. He wore the same, plain green, simple BDUs as her but he had a bone pin on his breast to show that he was, indeed, and third-year cadet—as well as his call sign that all third-years were given, LORD SNOW. She could almost swear she had met him before, but knew that she hadn't, she remembered her faces.

"Jon, come over here." Benjen jerked his head.

"Yes, sir." Jon said, walking over to Benjen.

Benjen put a familiar arm around the teens shoulders.

He seemed so familiar, standing there next to Benjen. She narrowed her eyes, peering closer at the older boy. It was staring her in the face. Maybe if it slapped her she would get it, but it didn't, so she didn't. Whatever. What did it matter? That wasn't what was important right now.

"Jon, this is Arya. She's a first-year cadet. I'm assigning the two of you partners." Benjen explained.

Jon looked startled for a second before clearing his expression. He looked at Arya for a long moment, assessing her. "That's fine." He said, simple as that.

Arya couldn't help but feel surprised. She would have expected the boy to be angry—angry at being partnered with a first-year in the first place, but much less a girl. Though the girls were all grouped together, trained under instructor Rodrik and Jory, not interacting with the boys much, when they did, the boys weren't afraid to show their contempt. Some of the girls were better then their first-year boy counterparts, and an embarrassed boy always meant a vengeful boy. Arya was getting it from both sides; coming first in the APA course had not been a fluke.

So if Jon was angry about this partnership, he hid the feelings well. She herself couldn't help feel the knot of anticipation in her stomach. Things were going to be tougher now, she was only a first-year, but would be treated like a third-year. She needed this challenge, had been quietly begging for it. Being stuck in the first-years girls group was dragging her down—it was like having a high school education but being stuck in fifth grade.

"That great, because even if you both hated the fact, I'm the second around here so my word is final while the Lord Commander is away." Benjen clapped him on the shoulder.

Jon looked at him with a dry expression. "So that's why you're getting away with this, huh?"

Arya was a little shocked at how casually he spoke, but Benjen chuckled at the comment. "Glad to see that Thorne hasn't cut your tongue out yet."

"Don't hold your breath."

"Well, be on your way now, the two of you." Benjen gave Jon a light shove towards Arya and went back around his desk. "Drills and what have you."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." They chanted and saluted in unison and turned to leave.

"Don't worry about your things, Arya," Benjen called back, gazing out the window, his office facing the Gift, "I already had all your things moved to the third-year barracks."

Arya wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to that, so she just continued on without comment. All he did was move her footlocker, which held her uniforms and toiletries, the things most important to her was secured around her neck. They kept a quiet pace with each other down the halls of Castle Black and it wasn't until they stepped out of the building that Arya finally decided to say something.

"Since we're going to be partners for the rest of our training," she said evenly, "we should be %100 truthful with each other." She paused in stride and he stopped with her. "Do you have a problem being partners with me because I'm a girl?" she asked bluntly.

A twitch of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips before his expression turned serious. "Like I said earlier, it doesn't bother me. Girl, boy, that doesn't matter. As long as you're good, and have my back, I'll have yours."

"Good choice of words," Arya nodded. "The same goes for me too." The started walking again, Jon leading her to the third-year barracks. "I think this partnership will go rather well."

"I think you're right." He smiled. "When we get there, you should change into a new uniform that’ll have your call on it. If Thorne comes and your out of uniform, you'll have hell to pay. He's a real bastard about that sort of thing."

"Really? Then why do you still have all that hair on your head?" Arya mused. They were chatting as if they had been friends for years instead of having just met five-minutes ago—she didn’t think she could feel this comfortable around someone she’d just met.

"It's still regulation, just like yours." He pointed out.

Arya resisted the urge to touch her own short brown locks. It had been at the end of Hell Week that she had decided that her hair had to go. It had always been unruly and tangled before, and even after she was taught the proper way to pin it into a bun, it would never stay in it. What would it matter anyways? If she didn't like it short, above the collar of her uniform, she could always grow it long again. But after she had gotten it cut, things became much more easier for her. It didn't take her as long to shampoo and rinse her hair, or for it to dry, brushing it was easier, she didn't have to worry about getting punished because its state was unacceptable by a man who had a sideburn-beard. It was life made easy. It no longer got in her eyes during a drill, she didn't have to scramble to get it up for sudden wake-up calls and night marches.

She felt more of a cadet for it, like she was cutting away a past life, one where she had long hair. If you didn't specifically know that she was a girl, and you could outwardly see her breasts, you would think her a small boy instead. She found it was better this way.

The third-year barracks were the same as the first-year barracks which were mirrors of all the barracks in Brandon's Gift. A long rectangular building with ten sets of bunks pushed against either of the long walls, making room for thirty-nine stinky teenage males and not so foul smelling young girl.

Jon led her into the rooming building, it half full with third-years amid their hour of square-away time, the other half were out probably doing things like laundry, showering, working out, or in the wreck room with it's single television, radio and out of date board games.

Jon leaned against the bed post as Arya crouched in front of her footlocker at the foot of the bunk and got out another uniform. Just like Jon had said, there was a name stitched into the left breast. NIGHT WOLF. She found herself grinning, instantly falling in love with it. Of course she was a little disappointed that she didn't get to pick hers, but she knew that it could have gone a completely other way. She knew that Benjen must have picked it for her, he was the one who moved her in with the third-years and he knew her so well.

She closed the footlocker and set the folded uniform on top, and stood. She started to unbutton her shirt and saw Jon turn his gaze away, being a gentleman. Arya rolled her eyes at the action, it wasn't like she was naked under it. She had on a sports bra for support, a tank, and then tee shirt; she was as covered as the rest of them. She put on the uniform shirt with her moniker. She buttoned up, smoothed any wrinkles and then refolded the one that she had discarded and put it in her locker.

"Did—" Jon looked at her questionably but she stopped when she felt someone foul come up behind her, and Jon narrowed his eyes at the person behind her.

"What's this then? They finally gave you a partner like the rest of us, _Snow_? Not so special now, are you?" the other recruit said mocking and scornful. "And lookit him, too!"

Arya turned around to come face to face with one of the ugliest boys she had ever laid her eyes on. He was a shorter than Jon, his natural hair colour must have been brown, but it was several shades darker with sweat and grease. He was chubby, too, and his face was covered in really bad acne. His teeth were crooked and yellowed. The name on his breast was POOCH, and Arya held back the bark of laughter.

"'Ow the hell did you make it to third year, huh, boy?" It appeared that he didn't know she was a girl, even as he looked her up and down, sizing her up. Neither she nor Jon said a word to correct him. "Night Wolf? Should be Bean Sprout, more like. Heh heh heh heh. Maybe some of that love’s worn off, huh, _Lord_ Snow?"

Arya really wanted to hit this guy, but she held back. Jon made no move, said no words, his expression didn't even show what he truly must be feeling, just a bored expression. Pooch didn't seem to like that one bit and was turning red in the face in his own anger, making his acne seem even brighter red in comparison

"This isn't over, Snow." The ugly, acne-faced boy hawked on the floor at Jon's feet before turning back to his bunk on the other side of the barracks.

Arya looked after him for a moment before she sat on the footlocker and looked up at Jon next to her questioningly. "What the hell was that about?"

Jon sat down on the bottom bunk that was hers now. "Our first year, we were doing hand-to-hand combat training, we were paired together. He made the first move that was his last move. I floored him instantly in front of everyone and he's held a grudge since.”

Arya looked dubious, wondering how that could be it but didn't press further. Did he really think that? She would let it go for now, but could Jon really be this naive? She didn't get to think on it further because the door to the barracks burst open and the third-year drill sergeant Alliser Thorne tromped in wearing a black Night's Watch uniform with the crow badge on the shoulder.

"Line it up, maggots!" Thorne hollered and every recruit scrambled to stand at attention in front of their footlockers, presenting themselves, including Arya. "Inspection time!" Jon wasn't lying when he said that Thorne was a bastard, half the boys were in the aisle doing push-ups as punishment for micro-faults in their areas like the sheet on the bed wasn’t tucked right, or the line of buttons on the uniform shirt didn't line up with the trouser zipper. Arya could feel her heart beat nervously as he stopped in front of her and Jon. The pair stood still, at attention, staring straight ahead as Thorne inspected their bunk area.

"Very good, Snow." Thorne muttered, leaning close to Jon's ear. "But not good enough!" Jon flinched at the sudden raised voice in his ear. "Unfolded bed corner. Hit the floor!"

Jon's expression stayed blank as he got onto the floor, going through the push-ups like butter, some of the other boys finally finished and climbing back to their feet, sweaty faced and at attention. As Jon pumped those out, Thorne turned his attention and scorn it seemed, onto her.

"Who the hell are you?!" He barked, close to her face.

"Night Wolf, sir. Colonel Stark assigned me half-an-hour ago, sir." She answered crisply. She wasn't sure whether she was supposed to use her call or real name—she’d find out soon enough.

"Oh, did he then? Where were you previously?"

"First-year recruits, sir. In the female barracks." They were going to find out sooner or later since she was now going to be living here—sleeping with them, showering with them—might as well get it out of the way.

That made Thorne pause if for but a moment, and the news caused the other recruits to start muttering. "Shut Up!" He barked back at them and they did, but that didn't stop the glances her way.

So the secret was out now. But why was Thorne acting like he didn't know? Did Benjen not even tell him? Had he just thrown her into the piranha pool bleeding and unprepared?

"Give me your name, cadet." He ordered.

Arya swallowed, this was probably about to be worse then being a female. But there was no way around it. "Arya Stark, sir."

And that got a bigger reaction than before as she had predicted. It was one thing having been a first-year half-an-hour ago, it was another being a girl, it was a whole different thing all together being the second-in-commands niece.

"I said SHUT UP! Give me fifty, right now. All of you!" He yelled, and everyone dropped to the floor. His cold stare held her in place. "That goes for you too, Snow." Jon had just fninshed with his fifty for the corner of the bed and now he had to do fifty again. "Stark, huh? The Colonel sent you over here. Smart, making this move when the Lord Commander is away. Well, it seems I'm stuck with you for the time being, but don't think you can get off just because you're a girl, or a Stark. You're all the same in my eyes, scum that ain't worth a pot of piss. Give me seventy, right now, cadet!" Thorne shouted in her face.

Arya dropped to the floor, levering herself onto her toes and palms and started to pump, her body straight like a board. Seventy? This was outrageous, nothing had been wrong with her presentation. He was punishing her for the simple fact that she was a Stark. She knew things like this would happen, but that still didn't make it feel any less unjust.

As punishment for not being properly squared-away, Rodrik had only made them do twenty push ups. Did all first-years do twenty, boys too, or had they been going easy on the girls this whole time? Or did the punishment get grander after each year? The thought of that mistreatment made anger flare through her, was the this whole thing just a sham?

Her arms were shaking by forty, sweat beading on her forehead. Everyone else was already finished and she could feel all their gazes burning into her. By fifty, it was dripping from her nose. She lost her strong pace a while back, now at sixty. The back of her shoulders ached, her arms trembling now. She was nearly there though, a few more to go.

"Come on, Stark." Thorne mocked her. "If you can't even do seventy, what are you even doing here?"

She wasn't going to collapse, she wasn't. Being a girl didn't make her weak, it just meant that she had to do more to prove herself. It was having to do that ‘ _more'_ , that made her stronger in the end. It was why she was going to do seventy and not show weakness, that, and her determination that carried her through. 67, 68, 69. She felt pressure on her back as she started push up for her last push-up and knew that Thorne had planted his boot on her back. She grunted, straining against it.

"Come on, Stark. Push. Show us all that bringing females to the Wall wasn't a complete joke!"

Arya gritted her teeth, straining not to buckle under the weight. She was not a joke. She pushed back against him, grunting harshly and suddenly her arms were fully extended and she was up—she'd gotten her seventy. Thorne took his foot away, and though all Arya wanted to do was hug the floor, she got to her feet.

She stood at attention, she straightened her aching back. Her arms trembling at her sides. Sweat dripped into her eyes as she started straight ahead. Gasping lightly. Jon sent her a proud glance. Thorne stood in front of her, watching her for a very long, nerve wracking, minute, his expression hard.

"It seems you're not a complete failure, Stark." And he turned away from her. "Outside! Marching formation! NOW!"

Everyone turned as one a filed through the door. Jon shot her a look, but she gave him a small nod, telling him she was fine. And she was. It didn't matter what Thorne tried to throw her way to get her placed back with the first-years. She would face it all head-on and pound it into dust.

This was the start of a very long, very harsh couple of years. But that was all part of the ride, wasn't it?

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I have no idea whether or not seventy push ups is a lot, but even if it isn't, it seems that way to me. I haven't done a push up in years, so don't ask me.**
> 
> **The Key:  
>  Recruit Descriptors: **   
>  _\-- First-year recruits uniforms are blank but for the leaf pin dubbing them a green or new recruits who's names aren't worth knowing.  
>  \-- Second-year recruits get their names on their uniforms, with a grass pin.  
> \-- Third-year cadets have a bone pin, and get a codename or nickname on their uniforms  
> \-- Fourth-year recruits get a talon pin, their uniforms have their true names on the breast, are ranked as privates, and have dog tags, stating their identification number, first initial, whole last name, on the second tag is their ID# and their codename. This year is when they are trained in specific duties that they will carry out as an officer when they graduate training school and gain the rank of corporal.  
> Stark Notes:  
> \-- Six months into her first-year of training, Benjen fast-tracts Arya to the third-years and partners her with one of his favoured cadets, Jon Snow.  
> \-- Jon has no blood relation to the Starks... or does he?_
> 
> **Thanks for Reading!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Includes: nudity and sexual reference.**

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

 

First-year recruit training had felt like a complete joke to Arya. It wasn't the repetitive nature of the drills and marches, it was the fact that she knew— _knew_ that they had been taking it easy on the girls. Rodrik and Jory were like nice and understanding and encouraging angels, compared to Thorne who was like the anti-Old Gods.

Thorne thought that they were all more worthless than the dirt under his boots, the recruits under his charge were the dog shit on his boots that he scraped off on the side of the sidewalk. He was a complete asshole, sadistic at times even. Sometimes it scared Arya, the way that he looked at her or Jon sometimes. But that was why she liked being under Thorne's charge. He gave no favour, they were all the same in his eyes. He treated them all like shit. That was what Arya wanted, to be treated just like one of the boys.

There was a monthly Physical Test, one that was similar to the APA course at the city Stadiums that got boys noticed for the Wall in the first place. At least it was monthly for the first- and second-years, it was weekly for the third- and forth-years. The first-/second-year PT was different than this, but a little upgraded version of the APA course, not the beast the third- and four-years had to run.

Benjen had dumped her in the piranha pool half the week through, so Arya had only three days to adjust to the sudden demanding, unpredictable third-year training schedule.

20 mile runs. 15 mile marches. Close combat classes. Schooling in the Wall. Weapon assembly and disassembly—blind folded and under a minute or it was fifty push ups and thirty crunches. Marksmanship at the shooting range. Random inspections. Explosive lessons. And somewhere in there they were supposed to find time to eat, shower, laundry, and sleep.

This was worse than Hell Week. Sometimes, she thought the only reason that she was surviving, was because she had Jon for a partner.

The APA course and first-/second-year course was like a preschool jungle gym compared to what the third-/fourth-year Wall Physical test was:

Twenty tires at the start. A 40-foot pit that had randomly scattered podiums the length of it that had to be jumped to with a surface area of 8x8 inch 5 feet apart; at the bottom of the pit was slimy water, if you fell in, you had to swim to the edge and pull yourself out by a knotted rope and do it over again. 20 foot high wall, climbed by rope. Once you reach to top of the wall, you're to leap to 5 horizontal beams 5 feet apart. From the beams is the rope swing. Then the belly crawl in a shallow pit of mud and rotting animal parts, 30 centimetres above you is real barbed wire. A 30 foot balance beam that wasn‘t level. Then a 5 mile run. All this had to be done under the time limit of 40 minutes.

Just like the first week of a new recruits life at the Wall was called Hell Week, this PT test was commonly called Hell’s Lane.

The only thing was, that Thorne made them run in partners—meaning that she was going to be tied to Jon with a rope length of exactly five feet, but only after they had first run the course singly.

"How is this even possible?" Arya gasped, waiting next to Jon for their turn. Both cadets were already sweaty, grimy, and muddy, the scent of rotten meat lingering on them. "It's a death wish." Just as she said that, a pair of recruits, Pyp and Grenn, tumbled off the podiums and into the slimy water beneath.

Jon winced at their cries and curses. "It is possible."

"You've done it before?" That was a stupid question, of course he had, Thorne wouldn't have kept him around other wise.

A sadness flashed through his eyes. "Yeah. His name was Samwell. He was a big guy, soft. It didn't end well."

"Did he die?" Arya wondered, unable to help the curiosity.

"No, he just broke his leg. He works in the Wall library now, taking care of all the history books with Mr. Aemon, he's the civilian that keeps track of all the Wall's going-ons."

"Oh."

"Stark! Snow! Move your asses, you're up!" Thorne hollered at them.

Arya took a nervous breath as the pair walked over to Thorne, that was the easy part.

"Don't worry." Jon murmured to her so Thorne could hear, "You've already gone through Hell's Lane once, you know what to expect. It might seem harder because we're attached, but their isn't a time limit going double, we just have to finish the course."

Jon was right, she had just run the course. At least she had that up her sleeve. But she didn't just want to just finish. "We are going to rock at this, Jon." She told him intensely. "And Thorne can shove it up his ass!"

The corner of Jon's lips twitched into a smirk but hid it away as Thorne sent him a glare. "Rock it." He muttered, and the pair bumped fists and got ready.

"Move your worthless asses!" He barked.

And the two started off. The tires were first, and that was the easiest part. Life was made simple by the rope being tied around their waists, instead of say, their ankles. After watching other pairs go first, they had strategised, and had come to the conclusion that their size difference didn't matter as long as the kept pace with each other. Those tires were the end of easy going, next was the podium leap; a 40 foot long pit with scattered podiums 8x8 inches wide, 5 feet apart. This was where their size differences favoured them, unlike two boys like Pyp and Grenn both almost 6'2" feet and 5'8" on 8x8 inch surface, they were a lean 6 foot boy, and slim 5 foot girl.

Arya stopped at the very edge of the pit, her toes over the edge, and Jon leapt to the first podium, his rights foot landing first on the square and then his left. The rope pulled taunt, but Jon stayed his place on the podium and Arya stayed her place at the edge of the pit. Jon turned on the podium, facing her now, his booted feet hugging the very edges, giving her as much room as he might. She took a breath and pushed off from the ground, her short legs stretched. Her left foot touched down exact center of Jon's feet, but she kept going forward, crashing into him.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, going backwards. His arms wrapped around her, and he bend forward, bending her back, trying to counter-act the momentum.

After a second they realized that they weren’t wet and breathed in relief. Still clinging to each other, they shuffled around and then Jon was leaping onto the next podium, Arya following after him. And so it went for six more podiums. Arya learned not to bowl into his chest with her face, and they remained relatively steady through the podium pit, but it was a relief when they finally hit sold ground. They climbed the wall next to each other, and when they reached the top, they jumped to the beams that were as far apart as the podiums, the same width as the wall, they made fast work of that, making up for time lost on the podiums. The rope swing was trickier. They only had five feet of rope between them so they couldn't go single-file, they’d have to go together like the beam jump.

"Ready?" Jon asked.

Arya nodded and they jumped for the rope hanging a short distance away. They grabbed it at the same time, holding it tight as they swung. They let it swing back once more and when it was at its closest to the second rope, they jumped again. This time, it didn't go so well. Jon reached the rope first, and it jerked from her reach before she could grab hold.

"Jon!" She cried out, her eyes wide as she reached out, falling as Jon started to swing away. This was going to hurt, she knew that it was going to hurt, she hoped it wouldn't hurt as much as she though it was going to.

"Arya!" Jon reached out for her. Their finger tips touched and then locked. Arya jerked to a halt, and Jon grunted at the weight and rope burn on his palm, his fingers straining to hold the girl’s weight.

Arya quickly grabbed the end of the rope and then let go of Jon's hand, pulling herself back up that rope. "Thanks," she gasped, looking at him gratefully.

"No problem," he smiled. "Let's finish this."

They got the rope swinging again, and they didn't have the same problem for the last three ropes. They both gagged as they got onto the ground and pulled through the darkness under the thick barbed wire draped with animal guts. The stench was horrid, the mud beneath them sucking at them. But that wasn't the only thing they were crawling through; sometimes, especially the first time and sometimes the second, third, even the fourth times through, cadets couldn’t take the smell of rotting flesh buzzing with flies and crawling with maggots and other bugs, a puked—which made it worse.

Jon had been through the course several times and was used to it, even as it got worse each time; and Arya was not going to show any weakness by puking, even as she gagged and retched on the suffocating, stagnant air, that had her a little dizzy by the time that they made it out the other side covered in mud, puke, and blood. Jon was out first, and he grabbed Arya's arm to help her up.

"Ugh!" She spat who-knew-what from her mouth on their way to the balance beam. She went first, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, probably adding to instead of taking away. Unlike the one in the APA course, and the first-year PT course, this balance beam wasn’t in a straight line and wasn't level. It went up, it went down, it went left and right. Sometimes it was a shallow incline, sometimes in was a sharp decline. It was the sharp declines that were the trickiest, making you move so fast the you almost tripped over your own feet or slip, making the rope got taunt, jerking your partner hard. But Arya had always been good at balancing and Jon was pretty good himself. They had the ground running, not stopping in the 5 mile run for an instant. She was fast unto herself, but he had the longer legs. He finished a second before she did, but they fell to their knees at the same time, exhausted and out of breath.

It was almost two hours before their whole unit was finished, but Thorne wouldn't let them be idle. So after cutting them free of each other, he had them doing jumping jacks until the others all finished. It was cruel and Arya's legs were shaking, and cramping, she just wanted to fall to the ground and lay there, to not move anymore. Gods, what half of them were doing couldn't even be called a jumping jack, but making a seizure instead. But then finally, the Old Gods looking over them, the unit finally finished the PT course.

"Wash the stink from yourselves and then stuff you faces, you have thirty minutes!" Thorne shouted at them all.

They all moved off, exhausted and hungry, groaning. As much as they wanted to lay and sleep, Thorne wouldn't let them so they shambled from the New Gift to the bathhouse in Brandon's Gift as fast as they might.

Because all the girls had been grouped together in their own unit, their showers had been an all female affair, modest to the eyes. But Arya didn’t' t have that privacy or luxury anymore. The showers was a tiled, open area with around fifty shower heads without any partitions. There was no time for true modesty at the Wall or in the military anyways, girls or boy, it was a dirty business without any privacy—if that was what you cherished, then get the hell out!

Arya had no patients for modesty even before she had joined the Wall. Her family had seen her naked many times over the years. They were born naked, she didn't see the problem. And apparently the Wall didn't either. She showered with the boys now.

The first time they were in the bathhouse and she stripped down in front of them all, Jon had turned instantly red in the face, turning from her so fast that he probably got whiplash. The other boys did to, at first. Embarrassed to be naked in front of her, it was different when it was just guys. But she left the locker room and went into the showers with a roll of her eyes. Boys could be such princesses sometimes.

She wasn't embarrassed with what she had. Back before, it always annoyed her that Sansa had a more curvy and appealing body-type, with wide hips and bigger breasts. But Arya had since realized that if she had Sansa's boobs, her body would become completely disproportionate and she might not be the great athlete she was today with her own pert assets.

Slowly, the other boys started to trickle in like nervous dear. She ignored them, even as she could feel their gazes boring into her body. Chett leered at her openly, but some of the boys like Pyp and Grenn only shot her some shy glances, but Jon didn't once look towards her, even as they showered next to each other, even as she couldn't stop herself from sending a few glances his way despite herself—The Old Gods had been generous indeed.

And now, as the spray hit her, mud and guts washing down the drain, she still got open looks, sometimes she got a glance at half erect cocks. Pigs, the lot of them, but not Jon, never Jon.

 _-tbc-_   
**********Game/of/Thrones**********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Again, I'm not sure if the time limit is right for the PT course, but it's there.**
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> **Physical Test or PT** = The Wall has a physical test course that the first- and second-years must go through at the end of each month that is similar to the APA course at the Stadiums. The third- and fourth-years must go through a tougher, more advanced course at the end of each week (called Hell‘s Lane).  
>  _\-- Twenty tires at the start. A 40-foot pit that had randomly scattered podiums the length of it that had to be jumped to with a surface area of 8x8 inch; at the bottom of the pit was slimy water, if you fell in, you had to swim to the edge and pull yourself out by a knotted rope. 20 foot high wall, climbed by rope. Once you reach to top of the wall, you're to leap to 5 horizontal beams 5 feet apart. From the beams is the rope swing. Then the belly crawl in a shallow pit of mud and rotting animal parts, 30 centimetres above you is real barbed wire. A 30 foot balance beam. Then a 5 mile run. All this has to be done under the time limit of 40 minutes._
> 
> **Thanks for Reading!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Includes: language, nudity references, sexual references.**

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

Arya flopped down on her bunk in the third-year barracks, just having come from doing her and Jon's laundry, and putting it away in their footlockers. They were partners, so each time laundry day came around, they agreed that one person would take both their things so that they didn't both waste half their hour of square-away time on that one chore. It had been Arya's turn this day, and Jon was no where to be seen—he was probably visiting his friend and former partner Sam in the library like he usually did in his personal-time. She wondered what he what they talked about, she never really had anyone like that before.

Back home, Catelyn usually did the laundry for the household, but here, either you did it yourself, or it didn't get done. The laundry facilities were located on the East end on Brandon's Gift, just like the bathhouse and the main toilet facilities. They piped in and filtered the water from the Bay of Seals, before filtering and cleaning it again, and sending it back out into the Sea. She stayed their the whole forty minutes because by the time that she made it back to the barracks, the washer would have been done and it would have wasted more of her time going back again.

Mail delivery came around, and the mail officer tossed her a small package. Arya caught it and sat up, a smile touching her lips. A package could only mean one thing, Catelyn Starks famous, chocolate-oatmeal-raisin-nut cookies. She tore open the package and there was a sealed container inside with a dozen cookies and a letter.

Mail was sent and delivered at the beginning and end of each month. And Arya had sent her first letter home since become a third-year at the beginning of the month, telling her family about being moved, and about Jon who was her partner and had become her friend. She read the letter that was from everyone, and knew that she was going to share half the cookies with Jon. She'd write them later, right now, she had to have one of these cookies!

She opened the container and took out a thick cookie and set the container aside. She bit into it and they tasted like they had just cooled down from the oven and hadn't been in the mail for Gods knew how long! Chocolaty, crunchy and gooey at the same time—it was one of her mother's more amazing feats.

A shadow cast her into shade and she looked up, expecting Jon but seeing that last person in the world that she wanted to look at smelling like sweaty cheese and leering down at her.

"What, mommy sent her little girl a snack?" Chett mocked her.

 _Ugh!_ She was never in the mood for this boy, he should just get over himself already. It wasn't the first time he had approached her when Jon wasn't there either—in fact, that was the only time that he did—like he though he would be safe if the other boy wasn't there. Big mistake on Pooch's part, Arya was far more dangerous than Jon.

Arya laughed. "Is that the best you can come up with?"

"You're a bastard, just like Snow."

"I'm the farthest thing from a bastard—a bitch would be more accurate—but I wouldn't expect anything intelligent-linking like that from you, Pooch." She countered easily.

"Did you just call me stupid?" his nostrils flared in anger.

"If you have to ask then it must be true," she smirked, taking a bite from the cookie. "What? _Puppy_ got your tongue _?_ "

"No. You are a _bastard_." He said finally. "No tits to speak of."

"I'm probably the first girl you've ever seen naked—and the only one you will. Don't think I don't see how you leer at me in the showers. It's sad, really... how you have bigger boobs than I do, and you're a boy! And must I add, that disgusting thing between your legs? How the small thing always turns hard while in the showers—I'm sure the other boys would be flattered to know they have your affection. But might be they'd just laugh because it's so small... and you've seen everyone elses, you've seen _Jon's_ , and you know it's true!" she laughed at him going straight for the jugular.

His clenched his fists, his face turning bright red in embarrassment. "Just because you're a _girl_ , don't think that will stop me from beating you." He threatened her, spittle on his lips.

"Do you honestly think that you can intimidate me? That has to be the biggest joke in the world! Didn't I show you the first week of my being here in close combat training? Or was being taken down in 15 seconds by a girl not enough for you?"

Chett snatched the half eaten cookie from her hand and shoved the rest of it into his own mouth, chewing grossly and wetly, fuming, humiliated.

"Bastard!" She tensed, shifting on her bed, about to lunge when Jon appeared at the foot of their bunk. It took a lot of strength not to continue with the motion.

"Hey, Arya. Hey, Chett. What's up?" he said intensely.

Arya gritted her teeth and narrowed her grey eyes to slits. Chett silently sneered at the pair of them before going back to his own bunk.

"What the hell was that about?" Jon demanded quietly as he sat on the edge of Arya's bed, who was still seething.

"You should have waited ten more seconds, Jon." Arya growled.

"By the looks of things, if I hadn't, Chett would have been on the floor bloody."

"Exactly!"

"Night Wolf, you need to calm down. If I'd waited, and you jumped Chett and Thorne caught you. The best case, he would have put you in isolation for a few days, at worst, you could get kicked out of the Wall for attacking your own man." Jon was calm and reasonably as always, but that didn't mean Arya couldn't dream about killing the ugly boy.

"He's a pig, Jon. How can they even allow him here? How has he lasted this long? It doesn't make any sense!" Arya said in frustration, wanting to pull out her hair. "He doesn't even finish the PT in the time limit, fifty push ups is a choir for him—How is he still here?!"

Jon sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I stopped trying to figure _that_ out a long time ago. Just ignore him, it’s the best way to go." He leaned on his arm and cocked his head as he gazed at his partner. "What's got you so riled up anyway?"

Arya growled again in the back of her throat. "Trust me, it wasn't when he called me a mommies girl, or a bitch—he took my cookie!"

He gave an incredulous bark of laughter. "He _what_? That's one of the weirdest and confusing things I've ever heard in my life. He took your _cookie_? What are you even saying?"

Arya crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at him. "It is not! It's perfectly sane and reasonable."

"What have you been doing while I gone?" he asked her.

"Shut up," she told him and grabbed the container next to her, peeled off the lid and held it out to him. "Try one and _then_ tell me that you wouldn't want to pummel that bastard."

Jon looked dubious, but then he sighed and gave into her demand. He took a cookie and bit into it, and he'd never tasted anything like before in his life—in a good way. He chewed and swallowed, and looked at her in shock. "Where the hell did you get these?!"

"My mother sent them in a package I just got 10 minutes ago." She explained. "They're awesome, right?"

"Night Wolf," she had never seen him look more serious then he did right then. "I'm in, lets kill him." Arya stared at him in amazement, but then the intense moment was broken when he chuckled and finished the cookie. "I can't believe you fell for that!"

But Arya decided to ignore that last part. "Great! Now that you're on board with this, I have a few ideas." She shuffled closer to him and lowered her voice. "Tonight, when everyone else is asleep we'll go over to his bunk, and piss in his footlocker."

"Arya, I hope you're just joking."

She sighed and sat back. "I am... maybe."

He gave her a stern look at that last part.

"I am, really!" she insisted. "Besides," she gave him a serious look, "do you know how hard it is for a girl to piss standing up? I'd get it all over myself more than anything else."

Jon shook his head at her and leaned back against the post at the foot of the bed behind him. "Am I the only one that knows how _insane_ you are? Does Benjen know?"

"Lord Snow, look where we are—insanity is all there is."

Jon opened his mouth, about to comment when Thorne came into the barracks. "Line it up!"

They all scrambled to attention in the single aisle and Thorne inspected them at the end of their personal time. Arya got fifty push-ups because of her mussed bunk, but she was kind of happy for it because she got to work off some of the steam that had gathered with her encounter with Pooch. When Thorne was done the inspection, and the boys were finished their push-ups, he addressed the group.

"Alright, maggots. This month were doing survival drills. We're going to the Beyond!"

Arya felt excitement shoot through her; she hadn't been to the Beyond yet. First-years only ever trained in the New Gift, it wasn't until you became a second-year recruit that you started to do training exercises in the Beyond’s fenced-in training grounds. The whole first-year was to prepare you for what lay in the unpredictable Beyond, but it wasn't until the third-year that the real survival drills begin. In the first-year, you were taught things like mapping and compassing, and Arya was finally going to be able to use those perfected skills.

The third-years had already been in the Beyond doing survival drills while Arya had been with the first-year girls learning mapping in lessons at the Wall, so like everything else so far, she was thrown into the middle. But Arya didn't care, she liked challenges—she thrived on them—and that was what partners were for anyways, to help each other out.

Each pair of partners were given one waterproof pack between the two that held: 1 canteen, 6 MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), 1 book of matches, 1 pocket knife, 2 flashlights, 1 map torn, 1 compass, 2 blankets, 1 pair of binoculars, 2 forks, 2cups, 1 small first aid kit, 1 pair of scissors, 1 handheld mirror, 2 parkas (wearing, with gloves and boots and goggles), 1 flare gun, 3 flares, 1 20 foot length of rope.

The Beyond was a area that was as controlled as the military could make. It was 300 miles in length, 150 miles in width. Fenced off, and complete with hundreds of hidden cameras to monitor the recruits' drills. The land consisted of a small mountain rang called the Frost Fangs, on the farthest upper West side; dense forest called the Haunted Forest, chocked with fog, laying on the length along the Wall; and covering the northern east of the beyond was a cold, windy tundra covered in snow and ice; a river that ran through the middle, branching off into the West and East and lay frozen over in the tundra but not the forest. Of course, there were wild animals that still roamed, like mountain cats like the white lynx in the Frost Fangs, moose and the like in the Haunted Forest, and polar bears and mammoths in the snow tundra—controlled as it could be, it was still dangerous.

Throne would blind fold each of them, and then he would drive them out into the Beyond and drop them off, each in different locations, and they had three days to find their way back to the Wall.

Three pairs of partners could fit in the off-road vehicle that Thorne drove from the Queensgate tower which was one of the towers that acted as passage to the Beyond and stored the vehicles like the off-road buggy and the like. Arya found it a little unnerving being blindfolded and driven into someone unknown place, but it was exciting in a scary way too. This would be her _first time_ in the Beyond.

Time went differently when you were completely blind to your surrounding and it was hard to keep track of where they might being going with the sound of the motor, all the bumping and jerking in the trails, all the turns and loop around. Thorne was probably doing to on purpose to confuse them and she hoped that Jon strapped in next to her was doing a better job of it than her. He had been in the Beyond before, been going there for almost two years now, Arya hated that she was going to have to rely on him so heavily, but knew that she was going to have to just suck it up.

Thorne dropped the other two pairs off before them and then felt like he drove for hours more before he barked at them to get the hell off his ride! Arya started to take off her blindfold so she could get down but he 'scolded' her for it and then basically tossed her and Jon off the cart and into the cold snow.

She got a face and mouthful of it and she rolled over onto her back and jerked the blindfold off as the sound of the engine quickly faded away. As she half swallowed, half spat the stale tasting snow, she glanced at Jon next to her already climbing to his feet. He held out his gloved hand to her and she grabbed their pack and let him pull her up. Both were wearing the a thicker set of BDUs, with thick boots, gloves, and winter parkas to help protect them from the cold.

"How very considerate of Thorne, opening the doors for us and everything!" She growled, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Did you expect anything less?" Jon mused.

Arya sighed and brushed the snow from her parka, the pack slung over her shoulder and looked around. "Please tell me you know where we are?"

"I have a vague idea," he nodded, turning in a slow circle. "If I know Thorne, then he was a real bastard and put us in the tundra. It's just snow and snow on ever flat land that’s blinding, and there's no placement markers to get your bearings."

"That sucks! But can't we use the map and compass?" Arya wondered. "Even if we're in a blinding wasteland, if we have the compass and map it'll be easy enough."

Jon gave her a dubious look. "Get it out then."

Arya wasn't sure why he gave her that look. He knew something but was going to make her discover it herself instead of just straight-out telling her. He did that sometimes, and though it made her feel especially obtuse, if he told her straight-out all the time, then she would never learn for herself. Sometimes, maybe most times, that was one of the things that she hated most. She wondered what it must feel like for Jon, being partnered with someone so inexperienced.

Is that what he talked with Sam when he visited with his former partner at the Wall Library—at how inexperienced and green she was, how it was like guiding a toddler through a mind field? He never said anything about it to her, he was as good as her at masking his true emotions.

She bit the inside of her cheek and opened the pack, Jon standing close in front of her to block out the gusting wind. She didn't want to be a burden; they had become fast friends—her only friend. She handed him the map and then the compass and closed the pack, placing between her legs on the snow covered ground.

"Alright, let's see." He murmured, and using both their bodies to block the wind as best the might, he unfolded the map while she held the compass.

She wanted to blame Benjen. He was the one who moved her two years ahead with only half the first-years education. She had made do so far, these last few months, of course with Jon's help—sometimes he had the patience of the Old Gods.

The corners of the old, worn, torn map flapped in the wind in Jon’s hands as Arya held out the compass. It was made of metal, with a glass cover scratched to bits. The red arrow danced around the inside, spinning this way and that, never staying still.

"It's broken?" she said incredulously, "He gave us a broken compass! Does he want us to die?!"

Jon was quiet for a long moment and took the compass from her own gloved fingers, holding it up and peering at it closely. "That's not it," he said.

"It's not?" she was confused. "I'm pretty sure it spinning like that isn't how it's supposed to work." He tucked the compass into his parka pocket and looked at her with a grin. She groaned. "What am I missing _this_ time?"

"You were probably just learning the specifics of the Beyond before Benjen moved you, but there's something in the mountains that mess with the magnetic pull of the compass, something in the rocks. I believe we're somewhere around here," he encircled an area of the map with his finger. "We're near the Frost Fangs, might be in this slice of tundra. With the way that the compass is acting, must be within a 50 mile radius."

Arya looked over at him with amazement. "That's great work, Jon!"

His cheeks were pink, but she couldn't tell if it was from the praise or the wind. "Um, we should start heading there before night falls, find a cave to make camp in, and then start towards the South in the morning."

"Okay," she looked around, the compass couldn’t tell them which way was West and East so she looked into the sky, at the sun. It was probably around 1400; they'd woken up at 0500, marched, close combat, and then lessons at the Wall; 1200 had been their square-away time; and Thorne had dragged them out here at about 1300, but they hadn't arrived until about 1400—her watch confirmed it. "That way!" she pointed towards the sun.

It was past noon, when the sun was at its highest point, and now the sun was slowly setting in the West so if they walked with it in their faces, they would eventually arrive at the Frost Fangs.

"Alright," Jon said, folding the map and stowing it in his pocket with the compass, "the map won't be of any use until we get to the Frost Fangs and find a landmark. If I know Thorne, then he put us right at the edge of the interference, the bastard—It'll take five or six hours to get their in this snow so we better start moving."

Arya nodded and shouldered the pack, and they turned their faces to the glaring sun that seemed to produce no heat. There was one bright side though, the gusting wind that picked up the fine top layer of snow that came up to their shins and wiped it about was coming at their back—helping them along instead on hindering them.

It was going to be a first long day, and a tiring one.

 _-tbc-_   
**********Game/of/Thrones**********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I know that confrontation with Arya and Chett was kind of sudden, but I wanted to put some interaction between the recruits in there. Chett's an asshole in the books, and an asshole in the show, and now he's an asshole in this fic—consistency people!**
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> **The Beyond** = The Beyond was a area that was as controlled as the military could make. It was 300 miles in length, 150 miles in width. Fenced off, and complete with hundreds of hidden cameras to monitor the recruits' drills. The land consisted of a small mountain rang called the Frost Fangs, on the farthest upper West side; dense forest called the Haunted Forest, chocked with fog, laying on the length along the Wall; and covering the northern east of the beyond was a cold, windy tundra covered in snow and ice; a river that ran through the middle, branching off into the West and East and lay frozen over in the tundra but not the forest. Of course, there were wild animals that still roamed, like mountain cats in the Frost Fangs, moose and the like in the Haunted Forest, and polar bears and mammoths in the snow tundra—controlled as it could be, it was still dangerous.  
>  _\--First-years study the Beyond, but it's not until cadets become second-years that they start doing [survival] training in the Beyond._
> 
> Passages to the Beyond = Queensgate, Stonedoor, and Rimegate act as gates or passages to the Beyond.
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _\--Catelyn has a famous, awesome cookie recipe: it's a chocolate, oatmeal cookie with nuts and raisins mixed in, both yummy and healthy(?) (sounds pretty awesome, right?)_


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~[[I found out after posting the most recent chapters before this, while doing some research, that Chett was not who I thought he was in the TV. series. In fact, I don't think they even gave him a role. All this time, the character that I thought was Chett in the show, turned out to be the character Rast (you know the one that Jon creams in the beginning at the Wall along with Pyp and Grenn, yes him, the angry fat one.) That was who I thought was Chett this whole time. An oversight on my part, sorry. But the facts stay the same. In the books its Chett who leads the mutiny, and in the series its Rast—they just switched the characters around a bit. If this makes things needlessly confusing, then ignore it, I just had to clear my conscious on this in case any of you noticed this fact. Sorry!]]~**
> 
> **Includes: language, nudity, sexual references.**

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

They had been trudging through the snow for hours now, and the white was never ending. Arya was sure that they would have gone snow blind by now if she and Jon hadn't been wearing tinted goggles to protect their eyes. The wind on the tundra had changed about half-an-hour ago, gusting into their face, making them short of breath, snow particles whipping into their exposed cheeks and chin, stinging and freezing the flesh at the same time.

They had seen nothing and no one. A while ago, she wondered how the other cadet pairs were doing, if Thorne had also put them in the tundra, or closer to the Wall in the Haunted Forest, maybe they would encounter other teams when they finally made it to the Frost Fangs. She didn't know what would happen then, if they would team together or become enemies—she'd asked Jon and he said "It depends," and she knew that he meant they might team up if they ran into Pyp and Grenn, but all bets would be off if they ran into Chett. Running into Chett would be the worst thing for them, he would be out for blood after what she had said to him earlier in the barracks. But after a while, she had stopped worrying about it.

The everyday marches, drills, and runs over the last eight months had made her legs strong, if not for those, her legs would have already given out beneath her. Against her will, Jon had taken the pack from her shoulders a bit ago—she had started to argue but it was a waste of energy that she needed. He had won, for now. The last she had checked her watch, it was around 1700 and the sun was creeping fast towards the horizen of the Frost Fangs, it was getting darker and darker. If they didn't reach the Frost Fangs by nightfall, it could mean their doom. She ploughed on, more determined than ever—Jon wasn't legging so she was going to either.

"Hey!" Jon called to her, shouting despite them being next to each other. She hardly heard him, the howling wind nearly stealing his voice. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. She turned and looked at him through her goggles. He pressed his face close to her, his own brown eyes obscured behind his own goggles. "We're almost there, you can see the Frost Fangs! About one more mile out," he pointed and Arya looked.

Indeed, they were looming huge in the small distance. She'd been walking with her face turned half downward, trying to block out the wind while keeping Jon in view. Arya nodded and they started off again. They had luck before, the snow was much more deeper than their shins, the snow underneath that was just so hard-packed that it took their weight. Now that they were so close to the mountains, the contradicting wind direction made snowdrifts that went up to their knees, all they could do was plough through by force.

Nearly twenty fee from the mountain side, there was a smooth transition from the drifts, and the pair picked up their pace a bit, taking advantage, the drifts slowed them down and the sun was even lower. Sure they had flashlights, but even then it would be dangerous to trek the mountain range. Jon stepped and his foot came out from under him, Arya _felt_ him land.

"Jon!" Arya yelled, skidding to her knees at his side, revealing the ice that lie beneath a thin coating of snow. "Are you okay?"

Jon pushed himself up. "What the hell happened?"

Arya glanced at the ground. "We're on a patch of ice, you slipped."

"Ice?" His gloved hand scrambled at the snow, swiping the layer away to reveal more of the ice, the ice that was fracturing from the weight of his fall. "The river!" he gasped. It had been on the map, he should have remembered it but the wind and whipping snow tearing at the map, making it hard to see. It was so stupid, such a stupid rookie mistake to forget about the rivers. One would think that in a place as cold as this, the water would freeze thickly over, but Frost Fangs had hidden hot springs and there was hot runoff that kept the river from completely freezing over—one never knew where the ice would be thick and the ice would be thin until it was too late.

And that seemed to be this moment. He grabbed Arya, intending to shove her away, but there was a loud crack beneath them and then the ice shifted. Arya's screamed was swallowed by the wind and the water.

The cold, she had never felt the cold like this. Her body, it stiffened, freezing in shock. Cold water burned forcefully down her throat, chocking her. She was going to die, drown. A cry caught in her throat. She couldn't die, not now. It wasn't the thought of _like this_ , it was of Jon. She needed to find Jon. She couldn't just let the water and cold take her, not with Jon still out there somewhere. She needed to find him. She fought her body's urge to just shut down and sleep forever and moved. She flailed. Her arm hit something hard, she didn't know what it was, but she clung to it anyway, fighting to keep her eyes open.

The pack had caught the edge of the broken ice and held firm, keeping at least Jon's head above the water. His grip on Arya's parka had tightened when the ice broke, and she went under. He couldn't tell whether he was holding her or not, his fingers frozen and numb, but he would not let go because he _might_ still have her in his hold. She was going to die, he was going to have killed her. When he felt the muted hit against his legs, he startled so much that he nearly let his grip go. But when something tightened around his legs hot adrenaline burned through his frozen veins and he grabbed onto it. With strength that a desperate man could only have, he yanked with everything inside him, grunting harshly—and Arya came flying from the cold blue water with a chocking cry.

She grunted as she hit the ice and slid a few feet across the ice. She writhed, gasping, chocking wetly, coughing up water. She was exhausted but she knew she didn't have the luxury to laze about. Jon, she knew it was him who had saved her. She rolled over, and there he was, all submerged in the hole of freezing, flowing water, everything but his black curly head of hair covered the by hood of his parka. She had to get him the hell out of there. She dragged herself over to him, her goggles frozen and hanging from her neck and surely she would freeze before too long.

"Jon!" He wasn't moving, he wasn’t fighting. The cold was draining the strength that had pulled her from the water from him.

"No, Arya... G-go..." he muttered, his lips were blue.

"Screw you!" She cried, and crawled behind him. She grabbed the pack around his shoulders and pulled.

His shoulders came above the water, and just like that, Jon was back fighting. His hands scrambled at the edge of the hole to purchase, his gloves streaming water, slippery. She pulled harder, her fingers numb. She could only tell that she was gripping something because she could see it. The think layer of snow on the ice splashed with water was slippery, but she found a bump in the ice and planted her heel against it for leverage. "Come on!" she screamed, pulling, tears blurring her already blurred gaze. "Come on,"

Jon legs kicked above the surface as he was pulled out an inch more, but it was enough, and his foot caught the edge. It was enough, he only needed a second. Before the ice could break again, he shoved with all the strength he had inside up him. Shoving himself back towards Arya with a cry, up and out. The ice broke under the pressure, making the hole bigger, but Jon had gotten his waist out of the water and Arya scrambled, quickly dragging him back from the whole before collapsing in a exhausted heap with Jon half in her lap.

"Jon-n?" she cried. "Are y-you alive... p-please."

"A-rya, we c-c-c-can't s-tay he-ere." His teeth were chattering as much as hers.

"W-here are-are we sup-posed to g-go?" she asked.

There was a cave with a small hot spring in it that was low in the Frost Fangs; he had found it once while he was still partners with Sam in his second-year. He needed to find it, or the both of them would freeze to death. "F-f-f-frost Fa-fangs!" he gasp. "A-a cave at th-the bot-t-tum with hot spri-springs."

Arya grunted as she struggled to get out from under him. Though she had been fully submerged, he had been in the cold water longer than her, he was going into shock. She grabbed his still shoulders and pulled. "C-come on, Jon! G-get up! L-l-let's go!"

He moaned, and started moving at her incessant tugging. He didn't want to die, but he knew that it was going to happen if he just laid here. He couldn't die, he couldn't allow Arya to die.

It would be took much work to try and take off the pack to lighten Jon's burden, so it stayed its place, the only dried thing between the two. They leaned on each other heavily, clingling, as they dragged their feet that they couldn't feel around the hole in the ice and to the bottom of the Front Fangs. The wind blew on them consistently, freezing them faster than if it wasn't.

"W-where?" they came to a stop.

Jon looked heavily around, hardly able to see through his frosted goggled. With painfully numb fingers he pulled them to his chin, squinting through heavy eyes. Without the map, he couldn't exactly where they were, but with the river... the single mountain stuck out farther than its other counter parts... he started to pulled her forward and to the right, up a almost steep and rocky incline logged with snow drift.

Climbing was the last thing that they needed, but it was their only way to savoir. Though the Beyond was monitored by hundreds of cameras, it was enter at your own risk. The instructors told you that there was a drill in the Beyond, you didn't have to do it, you could drop out from the Wall Academy—the thing was, they'd watch you, but they wouldn't help you until the drill was over. It was save yourself, or die. No one was going to save you but you and your partner—was the reward enough for such risks? That was what a cadet had to ask himself in the Beyond. The sky was dark now, the sun all but set, their world shadowed and dim. The flashlights, that was what they needed—the water hadn't touch the pack so they should be fine—but their fingers couldn't grip anything for shit, they just end up dropping and losing them.

They stumbled and tripped, so ready to give up but not wanting to die. Their heavy water logged winter gear dragging down at them, surely freezing in the cold. And by all the luck and wishes of the Old Gods, the passed a mouth in the rock and warm air grazed their skin unfamiliarly. Gasping, they staggered into the dark cave on frozen limbs, but for the soft blue glow from the moss that clung to the warm moist rock walls.

"T-this is it!" Jon cried in relief. They'd found it, but they weren't saved yet.

Arya was too relieve from words and tugged and ripped the pack from Jon's shoulders as the stumbled towards the sound of soft bubbling that couldn't be masked by the howling wind carving through the peeks and crevasses. As much as the both wanted to dive head long into that warm hot water, the weight of their siding and frozen clothes would drag them under and drown them for sure this time. One silent agreement, they tried to help each other out of their parkas and BDUs with frozen and numb fingers that didn't want to work. The zipper was frosted, almost frozen and after many tries and curses, they let go. The buttons for their BDU shirts were too complicated, so they pulled that and their undershirts over their heads and dropped to the stone, stiff and melting along with the parkas. The pants came with a button and a zipper, locked beneath a belt, but somehow they managed that, but the pants' descent was stopped by tightly frozen laced combat boots. Arya was ready to burst into tears, after everything, it was this that was getting to her, not being able to unlace her boots with her stupid fat fingers. It was so stupid! Jon was having just as much trouble as her, teeth chattering despite the much warmer air. She could feel the pins and needles starting in her fingers at the warm air, and then she got her boots undone, kicking them and her pants—all of it—off. Jon was still struggling with his, his fingers tremoring. She crawled to him, undoing his laces with her own shaking fingers—and then it was done, they were off just like every thing else.

Right now, exhausted, frozen—there was no time for Jon's previous modesty over Arya. He had gotten away with it the past two months they had been together, but at a time like this, there wasn't room for it. So Jon let it go, what would it matter if they died?

He grabbed the small girl, not even able to feel her, buck naked, then stumbled over to the pool of water and just went for it. Hot water splashed, their bodies enveloped in hot water, such a contrast from the frozen they had just nearly died in. They gasped to the surface, chocking, bit back cries of pain.

Another time, it might have been a nice change from all the cold fast-paced showers that they had, but right now, it was one of the most painful things they had felt. Their bodies had been nearly frozen, shocked to the core with cold. That sudden change from cold to hot jolted their nerves electrically. Pins and needles, stabbing, pricking, burning like hot fire, making their skin blaze, their muscles to cramp. They clung to each other, holding back the cries as they rode through it.

Arya wasn't sure how much time had past, but the pain was gone now. She had nearly died— _they_ had nearly died. It was a little frightening now that she had a chance to think on it, sitting at the edge of the hot spring. She looked over at Jon, the steaming water coming up to nearly his arm pits, but reaching her own slim shoulders, his usually fully black curly hair was lank and wet against his skull, his eyes closed.

"Jon?" she murmured, but he didn't move. "Jon!" fear crept into her voice.

"Why are you shouting?" he mumbled, cracking open his brown eyes. She breathed in great relief, her hand on his bare chest, the other gripping the edge of the pool. "I must have dozed," he confessed, rubbing the weariness from his eyes.

"I—I thought..." she just shook her head, she didn't want to think about that. "We should get out, it can't be good to stay in it this long, it'll make us light headed."

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

She climbed from the spring next to him, water dripping down her body onto the stone ground. She felt a chill, being out of the water and in the open air. Though the hot spring warmed the air in the cave, there was still the chill from the cold harness just ten feet and a turn away. "We're going to have to lay out our clothes and hope they dry by daybreak," she said, going over to the now soggy pile of hastily discarded clothes.

There was nothing but silence from behind her. "Jon?" she questioned, bending over and picking up one of the cold parkas. "What—" she looked behind her and saw that Jon hadn't moved from his spot in the spring, his face turned from her. "What the hell are you doing?" She laid the parka out. "Help me do this, would you?" She laid out more of the wet clothing on some out-cropping rocks from the wall. "Jon!?" She'd finished with all their clothing, it scattered around the small area, hopefully, even with all the moisture in the air, they still might dry.

She went over to him, crouched down, and touched his shoulder. Had he dozed again? she wondered. But at her touch, he went completely tense. "Jon, what's wrong?"

"You—You're..." he swallowed audibly. "You're naked." He finally got out.

"Just hurry up and get out, Jon, before you pass out!" She growled at him, turning from him and going to the pack. "Now is not the time for this."

"You mean being a gentleman?!" he asked, standing and turning to her in the heat of his incredulous reaction at her comment.

"Yes, that!" she spun around to him with a hand gesture. "It's just a body, we all have them."

"It's completely different! You're a girl, Arya!" He quickly turned his gaze away in remembrance.

Arya scoffed at his reaction. "We're in the military, Jon! your modesty is fine right now while we're training, but you're going to have to grow up now. The rest of the guys stare at me openly in the showers every chance they get, if I let something as stupid as that hold me back, I wouldn't even be at the Wall now."

"The rest of them are pigs, they're _disgusting."_ he told her vehemently, stepping from the pool and covering his cock with his hands, goose bumps cropping up on his exposed flesh at the touch of the cool air. "It's perverted how they make you shower with boys."

"Here." She got one of the thin blankets from the pack and tossed it to him, he quickly wrapped it around himself. She took the other one and did the same, more for him than herself. She sighed and gave him a small smiled. "You can be really annoying and ridiculous sometimes," she told him. "We should eat a MRE and then get some sleep."

He finally looked at her. "You're right. We'll feel much better with food in our bellies and some sleep," he walked over to her and sat next to her on the rock floor, the pack between them. He took two of the MREs from the bag and they ate in silence for a bit.

"What's our game plan in the morning?" she asked him finally.

"We should just be able to head South; we should be able to make it most of the way there before nightfall. But we should stick to the West side of the Beyond, the only trouble with that is, the West is where most of the rivers lay."

Arya grimaced at that. "The last thing we need is _another_ encounter with a river."

"Yeah." Jon agreed. That had been one of the most scary things he had faced in his life after his mother; it might not have been the act itself, but that he could have lost Arya, could have lost himself. He gave his head a little shake. "Once we get to the Haunted Forest, it'll be easier to spot the river and avoid it—it wouldn’t be covered by snow and ice, but free flowing."

Arya nodded, thoughtful as she finished her MRE that tasted so artificial and rubbery, but it filled her empty stomach so she wasn't going to complain. She set the empty package aside and got to her feet, going over to their laid out clothes.

"What are you doing?" he asked, curious.

She knelt next to the bigger parka, Jon's, and started to dig in the pockets. "The map and compass, I want to see if their still in here." Jon came over as she pulled her hand from one of the pocket with a hand full of mush. "Well, I found that _map_." She grimaced as she let the pulp fall from her hand with a plop.

"What about the compass?"

"Let's see," she dug in the second pocket and came of with the metal compass. She passed it off to Jon and stood. "Well?"

Jon gave the device a little shake and they could hear the slosh of water. "It's waterlogged, but if I can get the cover off and get the water out, it still might be salvageable."

They went and sat by the pack again, wrapped in the thin blankets for all the protection they provided. He used the pocket knife, and set to work while trying to unscrew the little screws that held the cover over the direction indicators; and Arya went through their pack.

"You think we could light a fire in here?" she asked, pulling out the small book of matches that had stayed dry like all other things in the pack.

He didn't look up. "Even if you could, what are you going to use for fuel?"

"Shit!" Arya cursed. "Could have used the map if it was dry." She sighed. Looking around the blue tinted glow of the cave, she had a thought, "What about the moss?"

"What?" he looked up at her.

"The moss." She gestured at all the blue glowing coming from the walls and ceiling. "Do you think it would burn?"

"That's a bad idea." He told her and when her grey eyes narrowed, he quickly explained. "We have no idea if this _even is_ moss, it's blue, and it glows—I've never heard of a moss that does that. For all we know, it's toxic and if you start burning it, it could start smoking and chock us to death.”

Arya groaned is misery. "Did you fix the compass yet?"

"Just about," he went back to it. Arya watched him work and a minute or two later the cover popped off. "Got it!" he dumped hardly a palm full of water from it.

"Well?" she asked, crawling over to him, the blanket slipping from her.

He shook the device, waiting for the arrows to start spinning like crazy, but they held still. "This sucks!" he complained, looking up at her. His cheeks went instantly hot and he turned his head away.

"What?" she asked.

"Your blanket," his voice was strained.

She looked down and saw her exposed chest. "Oh," she rolled her eyes and sat back, wrapping the blanket around herself again. She packed the pack again. "We should probably go to sleep, since the compass is a lost cause."

She shoved the pack aside and laid down right there, after Jon stared at her for a moment, he laid a few feet from her. Arya rolled her eyes and shifted over to him.

"What're y—"

"Jon, we're naked." She said simply. "This is nothing more than sharing body heat between partners—survival."

His cheeks are hot but he stayed still, stiff in the blue glow with her pressed against him, his eyes squeezed shut tight. She rolled and sighed inaudibly. "Jeez, relax would you?"

"I am," he denied through tight lips.

"Tell me something," she told him.

"Tell you what?"

"I don't know, anything. Like..." she bit her lip in thought for a moment. "You and Uncle Bejen are pretty chummy."

"What?" he chuckled. "Chummy?"

"You know what I mean." She turned on her side and looked up at his face. "You seem pretty close, more than just a cadet and colonel relationship. Are you... a couple?" she joked.

"Don't even say stuff like that." He opened his eyes and glanced at her, his cheeks turning pink all over again.

"Well, then, tell me."

He sighed. "I've known Benjen my whole life."

"You have?"

He gave his head a little nod and his eyes turned sad, his voice soft. "He and my mum used to date, before I was born. They broke up, but stayed close friends. So he's always been in my life. I don't know my real father, but he was sort of like that, you know? It was him that made me want to join the Wall."

"He made me want to join the Wall too." She murmured.

He gave a brief smile, but like his eyes, it was tinted on a long aching sadness. "I joined my first APA run. My mother... she..." he swallowed the lump in his throat. "She, um, she died later that year from cancer."

"Oh. Jon. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up." Arya said, but he shook his head.

"It's okay, really. But maybe talking about my late mother while naked isn't the best time."

"Yes, you're right. I'll stop talking now." She laid back on her back.

And she did, because now she was lost in a weird thought web. It wasn't long before Jon's breath evened out, but she couldn't stop wondering about Jon and her Uncle Benjen. She tried to think back, if she'd ever seen a girlfriend with Benjen or heard one talked about, but couldn't. She didn't think she'd ever seen him with a woman. Granted, she only saw him a few times a year, he had his whole personal life to himself outside of family.

She wondered what Jon's mum looked like, and wished she had asked the woman's name—but whatever her name was, wherever she was now with the Old Gods, Arya knew, even if she didn't know the woman, that she would be proud of the young man that her son had become.

She didn't want to admit it, but she felt a little jealous that Jon was so close to Benjen, more close than she was. The same feeling also left her a feeling a little guilty. She had a bunch of siblings, both her parents, a bunch of aunts and uncles (dead and alive), and a few cousins even, but Jon was an only child, never knew his father and had lost him mother—she was happy that he had Benjen.

She had the funny thought, as her eyes fluttered closed with sleep, that it would be awesome if it turned out that Benjen was really Jon's father, and they could become cousins. And that first feeling she had when she'd seen Jon clicked into place in her dreams. How funny!

 _-tbc­-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So, do you think Jon is related to the Starks? I laid out some background for you, but don't come to any conclusions, I will eventually come to a dramatic conclusion of this very curious question.**
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> **Frost Fangs** = Is a small mountain range located in the north-western quadrant of the Beyond. It has caves scattered all around, and some (usually the lower caves at the foot of the mountains), like the once that Jon had first discovered with Samwell Tarly, had a small hot spring in it, its wall covered in strange blue glowing moss. There is some runoff underground and that is why there is a river at the foot of the Fangs in the first place, and the reason why it’s not completely frozen solid.
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _\--Jon's mother (Wylla Snow)[Snow is not a bastard's title here, but simply a surname] and Benjen used to date, but broke up later and stayed close friends. Benjen is the only thing that Jon has close to a father-figure and hero. Could Benjen truly be Jon's father?!_


	10. Chapter 9

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

 

The alarm on Arya's watch was what woke them. It was a stainless steel, waterproof, cheap watch that she had since she was ten. It was scratched and worn, but it still worked even after five years, plus 8 months of hard trauma at the hands of Rodrik and Thorne and the Beyond. She was surprised that it still worked after the event of last night, but it held up where Jon's hadn't. It was 0500 when they awoke and they worked in silence. They ate another MRE each with a sip of water from the water canteen, and then dressed in stiff and smelly BDUs and parkas. The smell didn't matter because all they cared about that by some miracle, the clothes had dried in the damp air. The blue moss didn't glow so much now with the dimness of dawn leaking into the mouth of the cave.

Clad in all their snow gear and Jon carrying the pack, the left the warm safe haven of the cave and stepped into the cold, howling winds that weaved their way constantly through the crevices in the Frost Fangs to meet with the powered winds off the tundra in a messy dances that stole the breath from your lungs—or more, force too much inside—and made innocent snow flakes into stinging needles. Parkas protected their bodies, gloves their hands, hoods their head, and goggles protected their eyes, but their chins, cheeks and nose were left exposed.

The climbed back down the rough and slippery trail stuffed with snow back to the base of the mountain, and Arya had to wonder how they made it to the cave in the first place, left in the dark and barely able to move. It was a wonder, after nearly killing them, the Old Gods must have thought it good conscious to save them afterward.

It was around 0630 when they stepped out onto the tundra and made sure to be clear of the winding river that had nearly claimed their lives and sent them to be with the Old Gods and long dead ancestors. They didn't need a compass to tell them which way South was, it was to the direct right of someone facing the rising sun.

It was a lot of ground to cover, but despite the deep snow and prevailing winds, they kept a steady pace. They took small breaks, for a sip of water from the canteen, rest their legs and reposition themselves with the moving sun. Outside the cave, they decided to use the rope as a link between them so they did not get separated if a storm hit, or is something like the river happened again. By midday, they had crossed the halfway point to the Haunted Forest and crossed over another section of the river without realizing it.

They paused for a break in silence, and Arya listened to the wind. _Aooooooo_.... She cocked her head.

"Did you hear something?" she called to Jon next to her.

"Nothing but the wind, why?" he looked over at her.

"I thought I hear howling," she admitted.

"That's all I ever hear too,"

"No, it wasn't the wind; it was a different kind of howling."

"We've been out here for hours and hours, Arya. If it weren't for the goggles, we'd be snow blind. You're just imagining things, it's just the wind playing tricks."

"Okay... but if we're attack by some crazy big bear or something, then I get to say I-told-you-so."

"We'll probably be dead, but you can try." He joked, and she gave him a small smile. "Let's keep moving," he called, and they went on.

Arya felt like she was forgetting something from their night in the hot spring cave, but she couldn't seem to put her finger on it. It mustn’t have been that important if she couldn't remember. Oh well, it would come back to her eventually—she had other things to think about right now.

The sun was setting by the time that the Haunted Forest came into view, and for almost half a mile they had use one of the flashlights to light their way. The forest was eerily quiet, the instant the Arya stepped past the first trees that lined the edge of it, she got a chill down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

"We'll make camp a little deeper in the cover of the trees," Jon said, one of the flashlights in his hand, vaguely lighting their path.

Their boots crunched on the frozen snow and she wondered if it had done that the whole time on the tundra, but they just couldn't hear it for the howling wind. Though the trees blocked out most of the wind coming off the tundra, it was still freezing, a motionless kind of freezing.

She saw something out the corner of her goggles and stilled instantly, fear clicking through her, could it be a polar bear? A moment later Jon stopped and turn back towards her when he realized he couldn't hear her crunching steps with his.

"What is it?" But Arya didn't answer him, she was quiet and still, staring through the trees that had been on their left. "Arya?" he shone the beam of the light from her and to the trees.

It was white like bone, with leaves scattered across the reaching branches like bloodied hands. Jon didn't have to see Arya's pendant around her neck to know what this was, because even if he hadn't seen it before and even in the dark, any believer in the Old Gods of the Forest knew that this was their sacred tree.

It was a weirwood tree, a heart tree. Arya had believed them all but gone, extinct a thousand years before. She'd only every seen them in history books, and in paintings in the Winterfell State museum.

She slowly walked into the tiny grove that it adorned, and Jon had no choice but to follow. It was like she was in a trance. She pushed her parka hood back, and pulled her goggles down around her neck as she stopped in front of it. The face carved into the ancient bark looked ghoulish, but she wasn't frightened, she was fascinated. She did even realize she had taken her glove off until her palm lay against the smooth bark that looked so harsh. All the forest around them was frozen, but the bark and leaves weren't touched by the cold, weren't frosted and iced like all the other trees of the Haunted Forest. Because nothing dared cross the Old Gods of the Forest, not even the cold. She could swear that it was warm under her hand.

"Here," she murmured.

"Here what?" he asked.

"We'll make camp here for the night, at the heart tree with the Old Gods looking over us."

Jon paused for a long moment, looking at her and then around them. It was an ideal place to make camp. The air felt still, almost warm even, there wasn't that bone shaking chill like in the tundra—it was like the weirwood had its own little whether-system. The grove was not only untouched by the harsh cold breeze, but the ground around the roots was all green, untouched by snow, the bone white heart tree dominated the small area, claiming it as its own.

"Alright." He agreed.

She gave him a huge smile.

This was the second and final night of their stay in the Beyond, and once more they needn't have reason to make a fire. The hot spring in the small cave had warmed what would have been freezing air in a bare cave, and now, at the heart tree, it was like a supernatural warmth that blocked out the cold outside the small grove. Arya set her watch once more, and the pair, huddled under the blankets together at the big roots of the tree.

"Jon?" Arya whispered.

"What is it?" his voice was just as soft beside her.

"I always wondered about you call sign," she murmured. "How'd you get it?"

Jon sighed. "How come you're really chatty all of a sudden?"

"Near death does that to people?" she joked.

"That's not funny at all." He told her, his voice hard-edged. "But I guess that's fine—I already know loads about you."

"You do?" she said in surprise.

"Yep, Benjen talks about you all the time."

Arya was caught off guard by that. "What has he told you?" she asked cautiously.

"Well, for instance," she could hear the laughter in his voice already, "A while ago, he told me that when he went to visit, you had built your own APA course in your backyard so that you could show him how good you were, and maybe convince him to take you with him when he went back to the Wall."

Arya was aghast. "That was a long time ago!"

"Don't you mean last year?" he seemed greatly amused.

She felt her cheeks go right hot in embarrassment, glad for the darkness of the night to cover it. She huffed and puffed, trying to find something to say to cover herself. The truth was, that she had done that. She had been desperate, her time was running out. Finally, she just sighed in defeat. "I can't believe he told you that."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone—it'll be out little secret." He promised.

"Whatever," she grumbled, but knew he heard her thanks without having to voice it. "To make it up to me, you can tell me about your call." She wheedled.

"Fine." This time, it was his turned to give a huff. "Thorne is the one that usually picks our monikers for the rest of our military careers. Before I even became a third-year, he knew about my relationship with Benjen. He despised me from the start, like you, he thought I was being given special treatment, but Benjen isn't that kind of man. So he gave me the call Lord Snow, and meant it in a mocking way—as if to say I'll be nothing more than fodder for the Wall."

"Oh." Arya was silent for a long moment. It seemed all she had been doing lately was bringing up bad memories for Jon since they'd been in the Beyond. "I'm not going to call you that anymore." She decided suddenly.

"Whatever. I think you've only called me that once since we've no each other—and not in the way that the others say it. It's your choice, but enough talk, we need sleep, we have one last trek before we reach the Wall. We made good progress today, let's keep that up for tomorrow."

"Good night, Jon."

"Goodnight, Arya."

Arya wasn't sure who fell to sleep first, all she knew was that it was a good sleep for as long as it lasted. She heard the crunch of snow around her, and she blinked awake, alert. They only widened when a hand clamped over her mouth, stopping a gasp of surprise from leaving her lips—the only thing that stopped her from instantly attacking was Jon's whispered "Quiet," he released her mouth and she was still like stone. It didn't matter how much she was dying to ask what was going on because she knew it was something intense and Jon wouldn't do this for fun.

That was when she heard the crunching of frozen snow and the huffing, snorting of someone’s breaths. She tensed underneath him and they both turned their heads to the side to follow the being that seemed to circle the small groved that was not more twenty-feet in diameter. She wondered if it was another team, lost in the darkness, but if that were true, then they would hear talking wouldn't they.

There were twenty teams out in the Beyond right now, over the area of 300x150 territory, yet they hadn't encountered _one_ —Arya couldn't help but find this disconcerting. Had they all finished before her and Jon? Were they attacked and killed by an animal that was circling around them, scenting them? Or had they met with natural disaster like they had with the river?

If whatever animal was out there, scented them, she wondered why it hadn't come, killed, and then eaten them yet. She got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach about it all. Was it the same animal that she had heard on the tundra but Jon told her was just the wind? Had it followed them all the way from there? She hadn't seen any other cadets, she hadn't seen any animals; not on the tundra, not in the mountains, and not since they made camp in the forest. If the food supply was sparse in the Beyond, and the cadets were suddenly put on the menu, no matter how big the land was, the big, top of the throne beasts would find them eventually.

Jon's head was still turned the other way, but Arya had heard more crunching on the other side of the grove behind that ring of slim frozen trees and then she saw glowing blue eyes and the breath caught harshly in her throat and chest.

The beast stilled, and it seemed to found her, even behind her goggles. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, and she was sure it could hear it. It didn't release her gaze, and she couldn't seem to tear her own away. They were pulling at her, and if Jon wasn’t holding her, she might have gone walking towards it without even realizing it until it had its hands around her. She wasn't sure why she thought hands, and not paws or claws—she just knew.

It was leaning closer through the shadows, but it was halfway through the ring of trees before it stopped and let out a terrible screech that was ear splitting and unnatural. Jon spun around at the sound, but there was no more huffing and snow crunching, it had left before he could see, and Arya found herself gasping for breath, finally released from the haunting blue glowing gaze.

"Are you okay?" Jon murmured, hearing her. "I didn't crush you, did I?"

She never had as much religious contact as she was having in the Beyond these last two nights, it was starting to frighten her. She knew that if she told Jon, he wouldn't make fun of her or anything—they believed in the same Old Gods—but how could she talk to him about it when she didn't understand her own feelings?

"No, I'm okay." How could she tell him about those glowing blue eyes that were eerily similar to the glow of the blue moss in the hot spring cave back in the Frost Fangs, how could she even begin to describe it?

"Alright, get back to sleep."

"What about you?" it didn't matter that he sounded like a parent or big brother.

"After what just happened, I think it would be best if I kept watch for a bit in case it comes back."

But Arya wasn't so sure that it was going to coming back. The only reason it hadn't consumed them was because it couldn't _get_ to them. They were on sacred ground, the sacred ground of the Old Gods of the Forest, and those creatures couldn't cross onto hallowed ground. "Okay," was all she said, unable to put up a protest that she could keep watch.

Even in the dark, with just the crescent moon shining down on them above, she knew that Jon gave her a surprised look. He didn't question her though, and she laid back down beside him in a nestle of the heart tree roots. Its brooding face watching over them, keeping them safe whether they knew it or not.

—

It was cawing of a crow that woke Arya instead of the alarm of her watch. Jon lay slumped asleep next to her against the weirwood, and he slowly came awake as she sat up beside him.

"Hey,"

"Hey," he muttered back, removing his goggles and rubbing his eyes. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

He swivelled his head on his neck, loosening the cramped muscles. "Not as comfortable as I could have been."

"Here." She passed over the pack and climbed to her feet, stretching.

"Where you going?" he wondered as he got himself out his last MRE and the canteen that was nearly finished.

She looked down at him, grinning. "Gotta take a piss."

"Oh." His cheeks turned a little pink and he averted his gaze. "Sorry,"

She chuckled at his reaction. "Good to see that sleeping naked together hasn't changed your sensibilities, Jon."

His brown eyes jerked back to her. "That was just survival!"

She smiled at him. "I know." She turned and started for the edge of the grove.

"Don't go to far!" Jon called after her, not able to stop the hint of worry about the creature from last night, hopefully it was nocturnal.

"Out of sight, and in hearing distance. You'll here me go if you listen hard enough!" she laughed and disappeared through the gap in the trees.

She found a spot not to far away near a thin tree that blocked out some of the wind. The coldness touched between her legs instantly and she shivered, but squatted down anyways, and started to piss. She heard the crow again and looked around, but this time she found it, sitting up on the branch of the tree across from her.

Most people thought that crows were a bad omen, but Arya didn't. That was what she aspired to be, a Crow of the Night's Watch. She heard the crunch of snow, and arguing coming from behind her, getting closer. Even if she couldn't understand their words, she recognized their voices. They tromped through the forest like elephants, but came to a sudden halt when they spotted her squatting there.

"Seven Hells! Night Wolf, is that you?"

Arya looked over her shoulder to find both Pyp and Grenn, recognizable even in their full winter gear. "Yes," she said simply, staying her place until she finished her stream. She'd borrowed some of the green moss that the edge of the grove and used that to wipe herself before pulling up her pants and buckling up. She turned to them and said, "What's up guys?" like they hadn't just watched her take a piss.

"Uh, hey Night Wolf." Grenn adjusted his goggled awkwardly. "We haven't seen anyone at all, and then we run into you."

"Hey, where's Snow?" Pyp wondered.

"Hey, Jon!" Arya called. "Come out, we've got some company."

"Company?" Jon wondered and a few moment's later came through the trees with the pack slung over his shoulders, his hood on but goggles around his neck. "Wha—Pyp, Grenn, is that you guys?"

"Dude, I can't believe we ran into you guys!" Pyp laughed, and the three boys bumped fists with each other.

Arya didn't care that they didn't include her, they, like all the other boys in their group unit, always acted awkward around her. Showering with them was all the interaction she needed with them, complete conversations were a waste of time.

"So, where did Thorne drop you guys?" Jon asked as they started to walk South towards the Wall as a group.

"That bastard dropped us off in the middle of the fucking tundra." Grenn said. "It was almost like he wanted us to become popsicles or something. First thing we did was get out the map, stupid thing got caught by the wind and ripped right out of Pyp's hands, man."

"The only thing that saved us was the compass." Pyp continued. "All we could do was head South and hope that we eventually hit the Haunted forest without being eaten or something. What about you guys?"

"Thorne threw us off his ride West in the tundra, fifty miles off the Frost Fangs, right in the no-fly zone. Compass was useless, so was the map. We spent the first night in a cave we found at the Fangs, and then spent last night here in the forest." Jon told them.

"Lucky!" Pyp booed. "You got to hole-up in a cave with a chick, and I had to huddle up with this idiot like it was going out of style."

"Oh, I'm the only reason your not a Pyp-sicle, right now. You should be thanking me!" Grenn pointed out.

"I've never felt more violated in my life!" Pyp returned. "I'd rather have the Doc's finger up my ass then sleep with you again."

"You make me right sick sometimes, you know that?" Grenn crossed his arms over his chest and turned from his partner.

It stayed silent for an hour or so, but then their chatting—more like arguing— took up pace again, and eventually Arya and Jon ended up leaving the pair behind because they could seem to multitask for long by walking and arguing and ended up just arguing. Eventually, their raised voices faded away.

"Hey, let me get into the pack for a second, would you?" Arya asked when her stomach growled. "I never got to eat when we woke up."

"Sure," he stopped and turned his back on her, showing her the pack.

She had to dig under the blankets, but she was finally able to get the package and she ate it on the move. "Can you believe that we actually ran into those two, of all the partners?" she mused.

"Yeah, I was taken by surprise too." Jon admitted. "Of half the dozen times of been in the Beyond, I've only actually ran into a few partners before."

"I could hear them a mile off." She said. "I was surprised you didn't."

"Well, I heard something, but when I didn't hear you calling for help or a battle cry, I packed up and was already on my way when you called."

"Does that mean you heard me piss?" she gave him a cheeky grin.

"Don't be gross!" he told her, but didn't meet her gaze.

"You so did!" she punched his shoulder playfully. "Well, I'll be! You're just like all the other boys!" she mocked gasped, laying the back of her gloved hand against her forehead in lady-like aghast.

He glowered back at her.

"Don't worry, old chum." She patted his shoulder, grinning. "I won't tell anyone about your secret hobby of listening to girls taking a piss."

"Shut up." He huffed. "You know that's completely untrue… your word against mine" He returned with a flash of a smirk.

"Ha! That‘s the spirit—deny, deny, deny."

They were still about three miles out, when they caught their first glimpse of the Wall through the loosening density of the trees. They grinned at each other.

"Wanna run it?" Jon asked.

Arya straightened her goggles. "You bet!"

And they ran, grinning to each other. They had made it, after everything that they had gone through these last three days and two nights, they were finally going to be back at the Wall where they could shower and eat hot food that actually tasted like food and sleep in a bed, under a blanket with a pillow only needing to fear Thorne and not a beast with glowing blue eyes.

There was a quarter of a mile of blank space after the Wall, and before the Haunted Forest's edges. The instant the pair set foot outside that line of trees, there was a loud report that seemed to echo and echo around them. Splinters of bark exploded from the tree next to Jon as they dove for cover back in the trees.

"What the hell was that!" Arya gasped, feeling bruised from the dive into frozen snow. Her heart was pounding in her chest, a crisp fear that was becoming familiar in the Beyond.

Jon looked over at her from the cover of the next tree over, startled as much as her. "Gunfire."

"Gunfire?" she exclaimed. "Why the hell are they firing at us?"

Another shot sounded, she could feel the impact of it through the tree she was using as a shield, bark flew just the same and she couldn't help the flinch and start.

"I—I think it's part of the drill."

"They've shot at you before?! How could you not remember something like this, Jon? We could've been killed!"

"It's never happened before!" Jon told her. "They've never done it before."

"What do we do, Jon? What do we do?" She could feel the panic rising inside of her.

"Breath." Jon turned his gaze from her and looked back into the forest, taking deep breaths and trying to better collect himself.

Arya copied him, her gloved hand shoved down the zipped throat of her parka, gripping her Old Gods pendant and the iron coin around her neck, taking deep breathes until her heart returned to its normal rhythm and her breathes even themselves out. "Okay. Now what?"

"It's just a test." Jon said firmly. "They wouldn't shoot us for real, that just doesn't make any sense."

"You don't sound to sure."

"It's just a test." He repeated.

"Okay, if it's just a test, then what? we're supposed to make it to the Wall without being hit?"

Jon nodded. "Must be."

"They sound like _real_ bullets, Jon." Arya murmured, still gripping the pendant and coin. "They sound just like the ones that we use for training at the range, _real ones_."

"They're not." They locked gazes for a long moment before Arya gave a firm nod.

"They're not real—"

"Hey, why are you guys just laying there?" Grenn asked, him and Pyp finally having stopped arguing long enough to catch up. "The Wall's right there."

"Grenn, get down!" Jon shouted.

But it was too late, another shot fired. The rifleman had Grenn right in his sights, a clear line through the gap in the trees. Grenn grunted, stumbling backwards, and fell to the snow as red spread across his chest.

"Grenn!" Pyp cried out and rushed to him.

"Pyp, outta the way!" Jon yelled at him. "Move!"

Pyp grabbed Grenn's arm and dragged him behind a tree and out of sight as fast as he could with his partner's superior weight. "Oh Gods!"

"Pyp? Is he okay? Is he alright?" Arya questioned.

"I, uh, he..." the boy stammered, kneeling over his still partner.

"Pypar." She said more firmly, barely able to make sight of them.

There was groaning. "Ugh, what happened?"

"Grenn?! I thought you were dead." Pyp looked at him open-mouthed.

Grenn slowly sat up, touching the red that covered the front of his parka. "It—it's just paint I think… They shot me!"

"It must've been a simulation bullet." Jon muttered, sounding so relief.

"Shit! It hurts, man. What the hell?" Grenn exclaimed.

"Oh, just be glad that you're not dead." Pyp told him, over it already.

"I could have been killed!" Grenn protest.

"Cut it out, the pair of you." Jon ordered them, and they quieted down at his authoritative tone. "Now listen up. They're sim-bullets, it's part of the test."

Arya pulled her goggles down around her neck and glanced at her watch, finally releasing her pendant and coin. "It's almost 1400, we have to make back to the Wall before then. The last thing I want is spud duty everyday for the rest of the month if we're the last ones through."

Everyone was quiet, trying to think of a game plan that would finally get them out of the Beyond and put a warm meal in their empty bellies. She leaned back, gazing up through the think canopy of the iron trees and into the blue sky, the sun above her just starting to edge towards the West.

"The mirror!" Arya exclaimed suddenly, the idea hitting her almost like that sim-bullet hit Grenn, but with much less pain.

Jon took off his own goggles and looked at her with dark furrowed brows for a moment and then his confused expression went away as he realized what she was thinking. "That's a great idea, Arya!"

She grinned over at him. "The sun's still pretty high in the sky, bright as ever, the timing for this couldn't be better."

"What, what's a great idea?" Pyp asked, him and Grenn both confused.

"Get your mirror, guys." Jon got to his knees and took the pack from his shoulders, and dug out their own mirror and tossed it over to Arya.

"What are we supposed to do with it?" Grenn asked.

She got onto her knees and shifted around, slowly peeking out from behind her cover and towards the Wall, searching. "It's Thorne up there, it’s gotta be. We can make it to the Wall and through the Queensgate if we can locate where Thorne if perched, and then use the mirrors to reflect the sun into his eyes, blinding him so that we can run the rest of this open distance."

"It'll only be temporary, but it should be enough—if we run fast enough." Jon said. "Get up here guys." He shouldered the pack again, peering out behind the tree, trying to find Thorne as the other pair scurried over to cover behind a tree on Arya's other side, and helped look for Thorne.

It was nearing ten minutes and they found nothing. It wasn't until Thorne fired again that Pyp was able to pinpoint this location.

"There! East of you, Jon, 10 o'clock."

"Got him!" Jon called. "Arya?"

"Yep." She nodded. "And Jon?"

Jon looked over to her.

"I just thought of another sick plan."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "It's totally better then the mirrors, it'll work twice as better."

"What is it?

"It's so obvious that I didn't think of it either until now, the—”

"Hey, why don't we use our flare guns instead of the mirrors?" Grenn called over, interrupting her.

Arya groaned and hung her head for a moment. She'd spent too long getting to the point.

"That's a great idea, Grenn. Nice job!" Jon called over. He looked back at Arya and gave her a small smile. "That was your idea, wasn't it?" he murmured.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"Won't you let him have it?"

She cocked her brow. "Jon, it doesn't matter who thought of it first, it's whoever _says_ it first."

"You're right. Sorry."

"Whatever." She shrugged her shoulders and pocketed the mirror. "It doesn't matter. I'll be faster next time—don't you worry about that."

He dug out the flare gun and loaded in a flare, and pocketed the other two for a quick reload if need be. "Okay. I'll take the gun since he's closer to me." He called to Pyp and Grenn, "We'll start running for the Queensgate. Fire the first flare the instant you step out of the trees. Aim for Thorne, but don't try and actually hit him—he's only using sims but a flare could actually kill him. Got it?" The called their affirmatives. "We go in ten seconds, so get ready!"

Arya counted it down and then they all ran from the cover of trees, there was a whistle and then another as the flares were fired. Arya kept moving, not outwardly reacting as Thorne started firing at them, she didn't know where they landed, just that they didn't hit her or Jon. Then there was the loud pop, pop as the flares registered. She could hear Thorne’s cursing, loud, harsh, nothing they hadn't heard before.

No more flares were needed before they reached the Wall, and then they were through the Queensgate, gasping, hungry, exhausted, but just under the time limit, with no spud duty. Thorne grudingly gave the unit a day of personal-time, and that was her first experience in the Beyond—full of adventure, danger, and spiritual and supernatural encounters.

It was great to be a cadet.

 _-tbc-  
_ **********Game/of/Thrones**********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Key:
> 
> The Weirwood or Heart Tree = The heart tree is a sacred growth and thing of worship of the Old Gods of the Forest. Long ago, when the Andals landed on Westeros and implemented their religion of the Seven, they tore out and desecrated most of the weirwood trees of worship. Few survived, all in the North. Now, in this present day, they are mostly depicted in history books and in museums. The Beyond is the sight of one of the last heart trees.
> 
> Glowing Blue Eyes = These belong to an old creature that comes from The Land of Always Winter. One that hasn't been seen since the Long Night and War of the Dawn, creatures under the control of long unseen and largely forgotten White Walkers. It cannot enter the groove of the weirwood tree.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Ages are listed as the following:  
>  Robb - 18  
> Sansa - 16  
> Arya - 16  
> Bran - 13  
> Rickon - 10  
> -  
> Jon - 17**

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

It was mandatory for all the cadets to learn the inner workings at the Eastwatch-by-the-Sea Port and Shipyard for the Wall, even it they were going to become Crows. It was in your forth year that you specialized, becoming a Crow out of Castle Black, a Gull out of Eastwatch, or a Hawk out of Shadow Tower—all cadets needed to learn all the basics for each special unit.

So at Arya's ninth month at the Wall, Captain Cotter Pyke took over the third-years tutelage. They learned the comings and goings of the shipyard, studied the sea-going vessels in lessons, and at the end of the month, like with the Beyond, they were given a sailing test on the real waters. Out of the safety of the calmer waters of the Bay of Seals, going south out around the island of Skagos and into the rough and unpredictable waters of the Narrow Sea. They were to circle around Skagos and dock back at Eastwatch in the Bay of Seals after navigating their way through a brief stretch of the Shivering Sea and weaved through the isles of Skane.

Tenth month at the Wall had her and Jon, and the rest of the third-years units under the command of Ranger Denys Mallister. It was him who showed them the ins and outs of being truly stealthy, the ways of camouflage, and how to do some proper recon that got accurate information. Of course, this was followed by a test in the Beyond at the end of the month, but it was different then pure survival.

And then the third-years were back with Thorne for the remaining two months of their lives as third-years cadets. It was back to the regular marches, drills, Hell's Lane, lessons, close combat, wake-up calls, shooting lessons, explosive ordinance lessons, and of course, frequent hands-on survival lessons in the Beyond.

It was never the same each time they went into the Beyond. Thorne never dropped of the partners in the same place twice—it was radically different each trip. One, Arya and Jon were in the Frost Fangs, for another they ended up in the tundra at the farthest Eastern side of the Beyond, right on a icy cliff that overlooked the Shivering Sea with crashing waves constantly bashing up against jagged rocks. The closer their final days as third-year cadets drew near, there was always less and less supplies in their packs—until finally, for their final test, Thorne had left them with nothing but their winter gear, one water canteen, a rope (shortened to ten feet after their twenty feet in their first run), pack of matches, and a machete—leaving Arya and Jon in the middle of their most favourite place, the tundra on the Eastern side, maybe 50 miles from the Shivering Sea.

Their first trip into the Beyond as partners had nearly ended up in their death if it hadn't been for the hot spring that was hidden in that small cave in the Frost Fangs that had been pure luck they happened upon it. And this last adventure in the Beyond was a whole different kind of death game.

They had to hunt for their own food, which was next near to impossible in the white waste land. They had spent two days in the white wasteland, starving, exhausted, near collapse when they caught a winter hare by the purest luck out there in the known world; happening upon it just as a blue fox took it down. Arya took the rope and made a lasso out of it, and Jon kept the machete, and they converged on the small beast from two angles. Arya had managed to noose it just as it caught their scents on the rushing wind, and Jon rushed in and finished it off. They ate the fox, drinking the blood still hot in its body before eating what meat their bodies could take.

They ate it raw, half frozen, unable to light a fire in the constant wind and always snow but they didn't care because it was something in their bellies. They left the fox carcass to be covered by snow and scavenged by other wild animals who would eventually catch the scent, and took the dead hare to eat later.

When they finally reached the edge of the Haunted Forest, they were attacked by another team who was wanting for their supplies. There water, what was left of it, was near frozen in the insulated canteen, the rope, full book of matches and machete were of more value—but it was the hare that the cadets truly wanted. They were able to fend off the attack and escape without permanent damage or blood loss, and hid themselves away in the forest using the camouflage skills learned under Mallister, leading Ranger at Shadow Tower.

Once they knew they were safe, they built a small fire and cooked the hare, eating the entire animal, their bellies completely filled, and continued on towards the Wall on high alert, ready for any other surprise attacks.

The last quarter mile of free space between the Haunted Forest and Wall was another guessing game, one that they discovering from the pained shouts of another pair of cadets that was a quarter through the field. One of the boys had stepped into a bear trap. Of course, it wasn't as gruesome as it sounded. These traps were altered, the edge of the clamps weren't teethed, but cut smooth so it didn't tear the limb off, but that didn't mean the experience of stepping into one was any more pleasurable. It hurt just as bad, most of the time, the pressure breaking the ankle and cut off blood flow. It made you scream and panic, making the pain worse, and sometimes you think it would be better off it if actually _did_ take off your foot.

They concealed themselves a little ways into the Haunted Forest, ignoring the cries of the other partners and conversed on a game plan based upon what they saw happen to the other team almost forty-feet from their current position. It seemed the field was littered with traps hidden beneath the snow.

They searched around and found a rock about the size of a person's head, and tied one end of the rope around it. Standing at the edge, Jon hefted the rock and tossed it across into the field as far as he could. And then Arya pulled on the rope, dragging the rock through the deep snow, dredging up snow and activating any traps it its path—clearing the way for the two of them to the Eastern gate on the Wall, the Rimegate.

Once they knew that ten feet had been cleared of traps, they would carefully move along the narrow groove cut into the snow, resetting an sprung traps and covering them up again. If someone happened upon their trail when the two of them were through, they would think it clear, but would be in for a painful surprise. When the reached the end of the cleared groove, the repeated the process until they finally came upon the Rimegate—and Arya and Jon finally completed their final test as a third-year.

—

It was two weeks until their promotion to fourth-years, and though there was no more trips into the Beyond, Thorne wasn't going to let them just slack off for the time being so there were still marches, drills, lesson on paper and in the field, sudden wake-up calls, and Hell's Lane—but he allowed for longer square-away periods and extended periods for eating and showering and laundry.

Arya was happy, and she wasn't afraid to write all about it in her letters back home. She noticed that Jon never wrote, and remember what he had told her in the cave their first time in the Beyond together. His mother had died from cancer a few months after he joined the Wall, he was an only child and had no other relatives. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't quiet remember what it was, she knew that pushing for it would only drive it away, and if she let it, in time the memory would float to the surface.

It came back to her when it was lights out, the night on that same day, on the cusp of sleep—just like it had been when the thought had first occurred to her.

"Oh my Gods!" she gasped, jerking upright in bed, the top of her head grazing the underside of the mattress above her that bulged under Jon's weight sleeping above her. There were a few coughs and bedsprings sounding in the darkened barracks filled with sleeping boys and single awakened girl.

Slowly, she laid back down, but was wide awake, her mind racing with the single thought.

Could her Uncle Benjen be Jon's true father?

She laughed to herself. "That's just insane," she whispered, looking up at the mattress above her, at Jon sleeping soundly above her, oblivious of the thought going through her head, "Right, Jon?"

Of course there was no reply from the older boy. She sighed, shifting under the blanket onto her side, one arm tucked under her pillow, the other hanging over her stomach. It was an insane thought, but it was a cool idea, if highly improbable. She closed her eyes a willed herself to sleep, but it was hard to come by.

This probably wasn't going to end well.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Not sure if you can really eat fox, the thought never even occurred to me before until I put it in this chapter.  
>  The Key:**
> 
> Crow = The Night's Watch special ground forces stationed out of Castle Black, drilled by Drill Sergeant Alliser Thorne, but commanded by Colonel Benjen Stark.
> 
> Gull = The Night's Watch sea-going sailors out of the Wall's Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, lead and commanded by Captain Cotter Pyke.
> 
> Hawk = The Night's Watch camouflage and reconnaissance unit commanded out of the Shadow Tower, lead and commanded Ranger Denys Mallister.
> 
> Becoming A 4th-Year = In order to become a forth-year and specialize, a cadet must pass all the final tests in each of the main Wall Military Units, such as camouflage and recon at the Shadow Tower, survival at Castle Black, and ship command at Eastwatch.
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _\--Is Arya drawing to a startling conclusion, or a absurd thought filled with dreams._


	12. Chapter 11

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

Arya had trouble sleeping. She just couldn't get the idea out of her head. Benjen and Jon's mother Wylla, and Jon. She must be crazy. The blue moss, it must have done something to her, that was when this whole thing started. Feeling the after-shocks of near death, surrounded by weird blue glowing moss. But even if she blamed the blue moss—for which her and the moss both knew was just an excuse—she thought about it still.

It was distracting her and Thorne didn't fail to notice—in fact, he paid special attention so he could wreck as much havoc on her before she was out of his reach.

She had always gotten a perfect score at the shooting range, no matter the weapon—rifle, shotgun, handgun—not matter the mark— still targets, moving targets—her hand was steady, her aim extraordinary, her reflexes fast, smooth and always in motion. It was two days from graduation and they did a team firing drill in Craster's Keep. It was a small village that was built in the New Gift to help train recruits in gun exercises; it was equipped with cameras as well as pop-out board targets and live targets, with a platform built high for the instructors to watch on the screen and see the real thing from above.

Thorne had split the third-years into two groups; one would be the Red-Team, that was already stationed around Craster's Keep in strategic areas, and the other was Yellow-Team who would be the infiltrating team. Arya and Jon were on the Yellow-Team, co-leaders; while Chett and his partner were co-leaders on Red-Team. Which ever team had all their soldiers killed or captured lost. The winning team would get an extra hour of square-away time and a bowl of ice cream from the mess (but only those cadets that hadn't been hit)—which never happened, ever—and the losers would _not_ get ice cream and have to catalogue the ammunition shed, which meant counting bullets in their canisters singly. Of course they didn't use real bullets, but the same simulation bullets that had hit Grenn months ago while in the Beyond. Despite not being real, they inflicted pain the was very much genuine. If used corrected or incorrectly, they could cause: welting, bruising, crack a rib, spotted bleeding, knock the breath out of you, knock you out—and in a few cases, even kill you. A dozen years back or so, a cadet was killed when a sim-bullet struck him in the eye. Sim-bullets may not be metal, but they could still kill you. They'd upgraded the combat uniform for Craster's Keep; helmet, goggles, a soft vest to protect the soft internal organs.

You knew you were killed in the exercise because the sim-bullets had a painted tip, so when you were shot, the tip would explode and leave a coloured mark. After being shot, if deemed fatal by the watching instructor, you were to play dead until the exercise was over, which could sometimes take a couple hours.

They started their exercise and Arya as had never happened to her before, got hit first. She had been at point, leading four other cadets while Jon had circled around Craster's Keep to take point with the other four cadets on their team. Red-Team had placed a single enemy soldier just inside the first wall of the Keep. The report from a handgun sounded barely ten feet from her, striking her in the side of the head.

Her ears rung, blood pounded, her head throbbed and she was thrown to the ground at the entrance, staying were she landed. The enemy was taken out immediate by the rest of her unit and they continued forward, leaving her ‘dead’ carcass behind, Satin taking lead of the unit. It wasn’t all that hard to play dead in her condition, dazed, feeling a little sick, the side of her face and neck splattered with red paint that quickly dried and became stiff and flaky. The sole reason that she wasn’t truly dead right now was because the helmet she wore; the bullet had impacted an inch from the edge of it—whether it was luck or not, she was glad to still be breathing, because death would have been so sudden if the sim-bullet had hit her an inch lower that she wouldn't even have realized it.

Arya got little satisfaction that the cadet that had killed her, had gotten peppered by half a dozen bullets after her and lay about ten feet from her playing dead just like her. She should have seen it coming, should have expected it, but it was so stupid to place a soldier there at the very start that she didn't think it would happen. One of the biggest mistakes of her military career. She had been too distract by her thoughts to even consider it—and it had been paid off big in Chett's favour, ‘killing’ a co-leader at the very beginning, hardly ten seconds since the exercise started.

She laid there for almost an hour. It was misery, trying to lay on the hard ground without moving as fractured shots were fired, cadets ‘killed‘; her arm was trapped at an awkward angle under her chest, her neck cocked and face pressed into the ground—but she did not move. She did not move because if Thorne spotted her—and he always spotted them when you were 'dead' and moved—then he would make her do fifty push-up-reach-for-the-skies.

But she distracted herself with the thoughts that got her 'killed' in the first place. Jon and Benjen. She needed to solve this other wise she would never become a fourth-year corporal and then become a true soldier of the Wall, become a Crow of the Night's Watch.

"Arya?" a shadow fell across her lame body.

"Huh?" she looked up to find Jon looking down at her with concerned brown eyes. She hadn't even heard his approach.

"Are you okay?" he asked, dropping to his knees in front of her. His goggles were shoved up unto his helmet. "We finished, our team won out with four surviving members."

"Oh, that's good then." She groaned and slowly pushed herself upright. Her shoulder ached, her arm fallen asleep from the blood flow becoming compromised under her weight for so long. She rubbed her shoulder and wiggled her fingers, her arm tingling back into feeling. "It's looks like you're getting ice cream tonight."

"Yeah." He nodded and climbed to his feet. "Satin said you got taken out right at the start—I was pretty surprised."

"Yeah, me too." She replied dryly and he helped pull her up to her feet.

She unclipped her helmet and took it and her goggles from her head. She could still feel the stiffness of the paint and reach up, scratching at it. Her finger came back covered in red flecks under her nails. She sighed. At least the goggles had protected her eyes.

Jon grimaced, checking out the red all along the side of her face. "That sucks, but it looks like a close call, Arya. I'm glad you didn't get hurt. When Satin told me, I got a little worried."

"It's fine." She sniffed, glancing away. "We all gotta 'die' sometime, right?"

He pursed his lips. "I hate it when you say stuff like that."

"Sorry," she muttered.

When she looked back at him, he was reaching towards her face with a really serious look on his handsome, dark framed face. She did a little blink-flinch thing in surprise. And then his hand went up, and he mussed her short brown locks. "Little sister," he chuckled lightly, smiling down at her.

She looked at him with widened eyes as he took his hand away, the words like a bolt through her heart. "I already have a big brother," she found herself muttering, her thoughts racing.

"So what." He just shrugged his shoulders, still smiling at her. He turned and stepped out of Craster's Keep. "We better get going so that Thorne can chew you for 'dying' within the first minute—I might even feel bad enough for you that I'll give you some of my ice cream."

She slowly followed after him. She hadn't told him to stop, secretly hoped that he might do it again. What he had just done was something that Robb never did. He always called her ‘Ar’ or ‘dear sister‘, but that was it. He never elicited the warm feeling of home that Jon had just put inside of her. It was startling.

She lined up with the others, feeling numb to Thorne's belittling. He didn't make her join the Red-Team in the ammunition shed like she might have expected, but made her do a hundred push-ups and a hundred sit-ups and didn't fail to call her a poor excuse for soldier and then sent her to the kitchens to help with prep for sup a couple hours from then.

But she didn't care, she needed some mundane and mindless task like peeling, cutting or washing in the Wall's kitchens to let her process what had just happened. Because... What was she supposed to do now?

—

Arya had been peeling potatoes, yams, and turnips for the past two hours. Her hands were cramping, fingertips becoming prunes, her lower back starting to ache from where she sat on a overturned bucket out back the kitchen with two other cadets on peeling duty. She knew that if she had to do this for the rest of her life like the kitchens' staff, she would kill herself before long—that was if the carpel tunnel even allowed it. She was just glad that it would be over soon because sitting still, even after all this time was difficult for her—especially when it mounted to nothing more than a mound of peeled and chopped root vegetables.

Now that she was finished peeling the bad spots off of her share, it was time to start cutting them in half in the tub at her feet, to then later be washed and put in a huge stew pot of boiling water. It was as she was slicing a potato in the palm of her hand in half and then half again, that the most obvious and maybe frightening solution came to her about Jon's true paternalism.

It was a physical reaction. Cutting through the potato in her hand then consequently her palm. Benjen—she had to talk to her Uncle about it before they were given a 2 weeks leave before their venture as fourth-years and newly minted corporals. She didn't even realize her hand was bleeding all over the potato until one of the other cadet's pointed it out to her. She was relieved of the spud duty and sent over to medical in the New Gift. The young nurse practitioner Talisa checked out the cut, cleaned it and gave her a single stitch before wrapping it and sending her back to the barracks, with the recommendation of trying not to use it too much for at least the next day or two so that it could close properly.

When Arya stepped out of the building she finally let out the scoff that she held back when Talisa first told her that. That woman must have never met Thorne in her life, that man wouldn't care if she had a broken hand, he wouldn't expect her to do any less then everyone else, even if he wanted her to fail. A failure of one of the cadets this far in the game, would leave a mark on _his_ record, especially someone as good as Arya.

She _was_ tempted to flex her palm, just to see how useless it might be because she knew that as soon as they had all eaten, Thorne was going to drill them until lights out. She just hoped that he didn't throw them into Hell's Lane, because she was sure to fail at that if her hand was compromised. Arya was simply glad that the graduation ceremony to fourth-year was just a couple days away.

When she finally got back to the barracks, she laid back on her bed, deep in thought. On her back, her knees bent, she stared at the underside of the mattress above her, playing with the bandage around her right hand. The next square-away time, she decided. That was when she would find her Uncle Benjen. It was Jon's turn to do their laundry, so she'd have the free time.

"Hey." Arya startled a bit, and looked over to see Jon leaning down to look at her, his hand laying on the frame of the top bunk. "Finished spud duty already? That was quick."

"Yeah." She dropped her hand to her side, hiding the bandage from view. "What can I say, I didn't want to be there any longer than I had to."

He gave a small chuckle and sat down at the edge of her bed. "It sucks that Thorne punished you even when our team won."

"Well, I was killed within the first thirty-seconds of the drill starting." She felt so disappointed in herself, she had a perfect record, and now, when it was the very end, she blemished her career. "I took to the spuds willingly."

"What happened, Arya?" Jon asked, his dark brows furrowed him concern. "You've never been hit before, and suddenly you were the first one out, and by an obviously placed enemy."

"I know," she sighed. "I just didn't expect it."

He shook his head in confusion. "You always anticipate everything. What happened?"

She glanced away. "I was distracted," she admitted, scratching her forehead.

"Distra—" he stopped suddenly. "What happened to your hand?!"

She silently cursed herself and dropped her hand back to her side. "I cut myself while cutting potatoes. That's why I was finished so early." She admitted.

"You were hiding it!" He accused her. "Why? What has you so distracted that it gets you 'killed' and then you injure yourself doing something so mundane like cutting vegitables?" She was silent, her lips tight, her eyes narrowing. "You made a mistake, that's never happened before."

"Yeah, I know! Okay?" She sat up, her lips pulled back a cm in a flash of anger. "Things happen, Jon! I'm not perfect, okay?"

The both looked at each other in silence, shocked at their sudden argument.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" He asked after a long moment, his tone and expression soft.

"I know," she swallowed, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap, the cut on her hand making it throb with what felt like the beat of her heart. "I know. And I will, just... I have to figure things out a bit first, okay?"

His expression became masked. "I'll be here, whenever you're ready, Arya. I'll be here."

"I know. Thank you."

He gave a firm nod and stood up from the bunk and left the barracks, leaving her alone.

Why didn't she just tell him? He probably suspected what she did at one point or another. Why hadn't she told him? The truth was, she didn't know why. Suddenly, she was hiding things from him when she never had before. They'd always stuck to their agreement since the first day that they met and became partners—they would be %100 truthful with each other. What was she breaking that promise, arguing with Jon when this matter concerned him more than her?

She groaned in emotional agony and fell back. The pain in her hand increased and when she looked at it, she found that the white bandage was splotched with fresh blood—she'd been clenching her hands in her anxiety, her nonexistent nails digging into the wound.

She just needed to talk with Benjen, and then all of this would be cleared up; things would go back to how they were before—before in an effort to bring Jon closer was driving him away instead.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Key:
> 
> Craster's Keep = Is a small, laid out village that was built in the New Gift to do gun drills, such as infantry. Built in with board targets and soft targets, cameras, and a platform built above the roofless course for the instructor to watch the exercise.
> 
> Stark Notes:
> 
> _~ Arya is one of the very few, almost nonexistent cadets to never have been 'killed' in Craster's Keep, until this very harsh headshot that killed her under thirty-seconds of the drills start, within 10 seconds. Now, she holds the record in the top-five quickest 'kills' in Craster's Keep._


	13. Chapter 12

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

There'd been silence between them, and Arya had never felt so alone before. Jon was her friend, her partner, her anchor in this place. Back south, in Winterfell she never had any real friends of her own, no body could seem to stand her forceful personality or understand her thought process, so her family was the closest thing she had, but even then she was usually by herself—because even though they loved her, even they had their limits of exposure to her. But Jon—Jon wasn't like that. He took her and he took all of her, accepted her like no one had before. She didn't want to lose that, something she knew that she could only get once.

It was the day before the ceremony, and then all the third-year cadets turned fourth-year corporals would be given a two weeks leave of the Wall to visit with their families. Thorne had given them a light day, but they still had to do Hell's Lane, and even with Arya's hand and their lack of communication, she and Jon preformed like it was any other day at Hell's Lane. It was the hour of personal-time afterward that Thorne gave them, that Arya had made a appointment with Benjen, but knew that she couldn't see him, not until she talked with Jon.

Because even if this thought led nowhere, she needed to know that it didn't ruin her and Jon's relationship before she was sent back to Winterfell—she couldn't loose him over this.

In the showers, his avoiding gaze was different from all his other steadfast modest looks away, it was an angry and confused and sad ignorance of her. She didn't care about the setting, she couldn't stand it anymore.

As they started to file out with all the other boys finished with their showers, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a stop, keeping him in place in the now empty tiled and wet shower room.

"Arya—what are you doing?!" he demanded in shock, looking back at her, his face going right red and down his neck.

He tried to pulled his arm back, but her grip was like iron. "Jon, I want to talk."

"Are you insane?"

"Jon—" her voice broke.

"Here of all places? _Here_?!"

She looked up at him in confusion, still holding his slick wrist. "What do you mean?"

"We're _naked_ , Arya!" His cheeks heated more as he looked determinedly into her grey eyes and nowhere else.

"That has nothing to do with what I want to talk to you about."

"Arya, I will talk with you—but I will _not_ talk with you while we're both _naked,_ okay?" he was exasperated, how could she not care or even notice about things like that?

"So you'll talk to me?" she asked in relief.

He sighed. "Yes— _clothed."_

She smiled up at him hugely, chuckling in relief, holding back the urge to wrap him in a bear hug. With the state that they were in, she was sure it would probably kill him from embarrassment or something ridiculous like that. She finally released his wrist and he rushed back to the locker room to dry and cloth. She followed him, hurrying with the need to talk with him, the room nearly empty of boys.

After they dressed, Jon walked out of the bathhouse with quick strides and no words. Arya had to rush to keep up with him, until they finally stopped at Brandon's Gift's Garden and Greenhouse located before the shower, laundry, and toilet facilities. It was always a quiet place to be, almost like the library, and always being tended; this was their complete supply of fruits and vegitables. They stood in the shade of one of the tool sheds, out of sight and sound.

Jon looked over at her, his arms cross over his chest. "What did you want to talk about?" his voice was bland.

"I want to tell you why I've been so distracted and distant." She told him.

"Oh, why the sudden change of heart?" his tone was quietly sarcastic and mean, "The guilt finally get to you?"

Arya turned her face from him, looking down. She deserved that but it didn't stop the hurt. "I couldn't stand not talking to you, Jon!"

"Then why?!" he asked her, turning to her fully, his arms dropping to his sides and his fists curling. "Why didn't you just talk with me before?"

"Because..." she looked back up at him, her greys eyes steady. "I was confused. You told me something back at our first time out in the Beyond in that cave in the Frost Fangs when we were laying down to sleep for the night, and a odd but... _warm_ thought entered my mind as I fell asleep. I didn't remember until a couple weeks ago."

"What-what was it?" he asked, his voice low and nervous.

She bit the inside of her cheek nervously, this was it. "Thoughts about how Benjen could be your father."

He was deathly still at this, it even seemed he stopped breathing. And then his brown eyes tuned to blazing fire. "Do you think I haven't thought about that every second of my life since I was old enough to understand? Don't you think that I have wished it to be true? That a great man like Benjen Stark might be my father?" he said these things, but it was obvious that it was just a dream to him.

"But what if he is?"

"But he's _not."_

 _"_ But what if he is?" she repeated.

"Are you not _listening_?!" he demanded, his hand slashing through the air between them. "Don't you think if he was my father, that he would have told me?"

Arya shook her head. "What if he doesn't know."

"How could he not _know?_ "

"Maybe," her voice turned soft, "Maybe your mother found out that she was pregnant after the two of them broke up with each other. Didn't you tell me that he went on a long mission afterwards? Well, what if she found out that she was pregnant, but decided that it was better if he didn't know about you."

"How could that be _better?_ " Jon asked bitterly.

"You know what life here is like," she told him. "It consumes your life until all you have is the Wall. Benjen only gets to see his family a few times a year, maybe your mother thought about that, and how it might be easier on the both of you not to have such a profound connection such as father-and-son and never be able to see each other, talk with each other, have that proper kind of relationship because he would hardly be able to see you because his life was at the Wall."

"That's just stupid, Arya." He told her harshly. "If my mother even thought for a second that Benjen was the father, she would have _told_ him. She wouldn't let something so important as that lying in the dust—she wasn't that kind of person! She would have told Benjen and let him make his own choices."

"You can't know that, Jon!" She insisted. "Your mother could have been a completely different person before she got pregnant. They broke up, and then he left, and she was alone and pregnant—she would have done what she had to do, to protect _you_! even if that meant never breathing a word about such a big and important thing to either you or Benjen. Maybe she believed that it was just better if you thought of him as father-figure than an actual father."

Jon just shook his head and kept shaking it, just not able to believe that his mother could hide something that was so important like that from him and the man that he knew she loved even if they weren't together like that anymore. "You're _wrong_ , you are." Tears were pricking his eyes.

"Jon," she murmured and reached out to him, he tried to step back but she wouldn’t have that. She gripped his shoulder. "Jon. I made an appointment with Benjen in about twenty-minutes—I'm going to ask him." She released his shoulder and started to walk off in the direction of the Wall and Castle Black; they were at the south end of the Garden and she was going to have to walk quick to make it, maybe even jog it.

"Arya, stop!" Jon spun around and managed to grab her wrist, jerking her to a halt.

She turned back to him. "Jon," she said softly, "Please don't try and stop me."

"Please... just— _wait a second,_ okay?" his voice was desperate and she stayed her place.

She watched him quietly as different emotions battled across his face and through his eyes. Fear, wanting, denial, anxiety, frustration, hope, confusion. "Hey," she murmured, and placed her other, rough calloused palm over his hand gripping her wrist; he finally looked at her. "Come with me, we can ask him together."

His lips were pressed tight and he shook his head, his grip never loosening. She gripped his hand, her expression soft as she looked at her friend and partner. He was scared and she could understand that. She didn't think she had ever been this affectionate towards something in her life, but maybe she never had that thing that she could be so caring towards—she never had Jon before. She knew that he wanted so bad to have that familial connection with someone again, that he was one of the loneliest boys she had ever met. She wanted to give him that, to help him have that simple feeling of wholeness that a family could give. And this was it, she knew in her heart that _this was it._

"You deserve a family, Jon. And Benjen is that family, he always has been. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but the both of you deserve the truth about this. Either way, you'll always be a brother to me Jon, _always_." She stepped back and he seemed to step with her. When she turned around and started to walk, he came with her.

"Okay. Alright." He muttered, almost sounding in shock.

Arya wasn't sure whether or not she was just pulling him along or he was coming with her willingly. Either way he was with her now, matching her fast steps, still holding onto her like an anchor. Today, they would find out the truth.

When they stepped into Castle Black, Jon finally let go of her and squared himself away into the professional graduating cadet that he was as they made their way down the hall and to Benjen's office.

It was exactly the same entryway she had first seen six months ago when Benjen called her in to tell her that she was being transferred from the first-year girls unit to the third-year boys unit. That had been the first time she had seen him since joining the Wall, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since; it was just like when she was back in Winterfell and only got to see him for a day or two a few times of the year and that was it. They were in the same 300x150 piece of land but they might as well be countries away from each other for all they saw each other.

Flowers was stationed outside Benjen's office as he had been before, nothing seemed to change. "Cadets Stark and Snow, the Colonel is expecting you." The man stood from his desk, briefly knocked on the closed door behind and to the left of him and opened the door; either he didn't realize that the appointment was just for Arya or he suspected that Benjen would welcome the visit from both parties. "Stark and Snow for you, sir."

"Come in." Benjen said.

Both cadets stepped into the room, saluted and announced themselves before standing at attention. Bejen was seated on the leather couch that was placed against the east wall of his office, a folder open in his lap. "At ease," he told them, closing the folder and standing from the couch, putting the folder on his desk. The eased, outwardly. Inside, they more anxious than anything. "When Flowers told me of your appointment, Arya, I was glad—we haven't been able to talk about how your placement with the third-years has been going, but I've been keeping an eye on your progress and I have to say that I'm very pleased with the results."

"Thank you, sir." she replied, feeling a flicker of pride in her stomach. Unable to _not_ notice how similar the older man and boy looked alike. She'd seen it the first time she saw the two of them standing next to each other for the first time, but she had been unable to make the connection. Now, she had the relevant information and was shocked how obtuse she had been.

"And Jon," Benjen crossed his arms over his chest. "Flowers didn't mention you would be joining us, am I right in assuming you tagged along last minute?"

"That's correct, sir." Jon agreed.

"Sirs from the both of you," he mused. "I do hope that you two aren't planning on telling me some bad news."

"Nothing like that, uncle." They were so tense that they reverted back to formality. "There's something of grave importance that we wanted to ask." She glanced over at Jon in time to see him swallow nervously.

"Oh?" his interest peaked and he looked between his two favoured and most skilled cadets, these two, he knew, when they climbed the ranks and gained more experience, would become the future leaders of the Wall someday after he and Lord Commander Mormont were gone from this world. "What is it?"

When there was silence, Arya wondered whether she should ask or Jon. She wondered _how_ could they possible ask. She wondered how she could walk in here without a plan, and how she didn't realize it until this instant. She had just been so determined to get in here and find answers that she hadn't come up with a game plan to actually get them.

"I wished to ask a question about my mother, Benjen. Is this alright?" His voice was steady, steadier than she expected it might be.

An old sadness flashed through Benjen's eyes. "Yes, of course, Jon. Ask anything."

Jon gulped, but his jaw and shoulders were firm. "My mother... she was so strong and loving even though it must have been so hard not to have my father there to help her; but you were there, when he should have been. You taught me about things that only a man could have known and I might not have been able to learn, if you hadn't care so much for my mother—and me. Arya brought up something that I've been wondering about my entire life, and thought that it was about time that it was answered, and you are the only one who can." Jon paused for a moment, gathering himself for this next moment as much as Benjen and Arya were. "Benjen, are you my father?"

There was silence as Jon and Arya waited, and Benjen looked the most stunned than he had in his entire life. "Am I your father?" he gasped.

Jon silently nodded, his brown eyes intense as he waited for Benjen's answer—it was one that could change his entire life.

Benjen straightened, letting his arms fall to his sides. He was over the shock of the question and now he looked determined. He stepped up in front of the boy and put a hand on his strong shoulder and looked him in the eye. Jon held his breath. "Jon, I—"

"Sir!" Flowers opened the door to the office.

"What is it, Flowers?" Benjen snapped over Jon's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, sir. But there's an incident that needs your immediate attention."

"What incident?"

Flowers glanced at Arya and Jon, but Benjen gave him a nod to go on. "Security from Shadow Tower just reported a small group of Wildlings at the fence, sir."

Benjen sighed, almost painfully and removed his hand from Jon's shoulders, carding it through his long dark hair—it was mandatory for cadets to keep it above the collar but senior officers were exempt for the rule. "I'll be there in a moment, Flowers."

"Yes, sir." Flowers left and closed the door.

"I'm so sorry, but I have to go." Benjen told the pair.

"But—"

"I'm sorry, Jon. I know how important this is to you and it is for me as well." He clasped the boy's neck, looking him in the eye. "We'll talk again when I get back, alright?"

"Yes, sir." Jon murmured, and Benjen rushed out the door after Flowers, leaving the two cadets alone in his office. The boy started gasping, his chest heaving, he leaned forward, his hands on his knees as he gasped.

"Jon!" Arya grabbed his arm and quickly pushed him over to the couch that Benjen had been seated on when they first came in. He was hyperventilating, she realized and could understand why. Her own heart had been hammering in her own chest as Benjen had been about to answer the question that had haunted Jon's life and had nagged her into blundering time and again. She cursed Flowers for interrupting. She shoved Jon's face between his knees and sat down beside him. "Just breathe, Jon, breathe." Rubbing his back in circles.

It took him a minute or so to calm down and as he sat up straight, he quickly palmed his eyes wiping away the pricking tears that had bloomed. "So close. I had been so close to finding out the truth." His voice sounded a little wobbly.

"I know," she murmured, gripping the curve between his neck and shoulder in comfort. "But he's going to be coming back, he said so himself, and he'll tell you what he was going to say—and you'll finally know the truth."

"Maybe I'm just not _meant_ to know." Jon murmured, not looking at her, sounding so helpless. "We should go," he started to get up, "before Thorne notices our absence."

"Screw Thorne! this is more important." Arya grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the couch next to her. "We're going to stay here until Benjen comes back."

"Arya, please... who knows how long he's going to be, we should just leave. He'll call on us when he's finished."

"We are _not_ moving," she insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now sit back," she growled.

Jon looked at her with both a pained and relieved expression, grateful that she wasn't letting him flee, and he sat back, taking a deep breath. "Okay."

They sat for a moment of silence, Arya's right ankle propped on her left knee, her boot pressing into the side of Jon's own knee, probably leaving a dirt mark on his uniform but he didn't push the limb away. She leaned her head back against the back of the couch and let out an explosive breath, unable to stand the intense silence. "Did you hear was Flowers said about the Wildlings?"

"Yeah." Jon leaned his own head back, but didn't look at the ceiling and instead turned his head and looked at her face in profile. It was a little after noon and the sun shone clear through the lancet windows that faced on the south side, casting the plains on her face into shadow.

"Have you even met one?" she wondered.

Jon shook his head, knowing that she could see it from the corner of her eye.

"Have you ever heard about them coming to the fence before?"

"There's been a few times that I've heard of, but it's not the cadets' business so it's probably happened several times before now. They have a immigration officer that stay at the Shadow Tower on such occasions that a Wildling does come asking for passage." Jon told here, they were all taught this through their lessons. "It usually doesn't warrant the Lord Commander's or the Colonel's personal overseeing, so something must have happened."

Arya turned her head to look at him now, their faces hardly 30 cm apart, her brows knitted together. "You think something happened?"

"Maybe, otherwise Benjen wouldn't of had to go."

"You think they might have tried to force their way into the Kingdoms?" She couldn't stop the wisp of fear she felt at the thought, nor the lick of excitement at the same time.

"I don't know, Arya." He admitted.

"Oh." She turned back to face the ceiling and the room grew quiet again. She tapped her fingers on her elbow, could feel the tiny pull from the cut on her hand. NP Talisa had told her to come back to medical in the New Gift the day after tomorrow to let her remove the stitch—that had been yesterday—but Arya wasn't going to waste her entire personal-time to do that when she could just very well do the job herself. She turned on her side suddenly, her left elbow perched on the back of the couch and looked at Jon. "When you were a kid," he raised his dark brows curiously, "did you ever wonder what it might be like to be a Wilding? I mean, all the way up North, where it was snow even when it was summer time, to live by your own rules..."

"I think every kid wonders what it might be like. But we all think its a fun lawless place with adventure after adventure—but we know that's not true anymore. We've been in the Beyond, Arya. You know how harsh it is out there. But that's a controlled area, imagine what it would be like uncontrolled. The Wildling dance with death every single second that they're out there—it's not a wonder why they try and come to the Seven Kingdoms."

Arya was about to reply when the door to Benjen's office suddenly opened. The cadets jumped to their feet at attention, expecting Benjen, but it was Flowers that stood in the doorway. "I'm sorry, cadets, but the Colonel won't be back for a while—he's attending a matter. You can go back to Drill Sergeant Thorne for the time being, and will be sent for when he returns. I'll give you a signed slip to take back with you so you won't be punished for being absent."

"Thank you, sir." Jon said quietly.

Arya glanced at him. "Did something happen with the Wildlings, sir? Will the Colonel be alright?"

"The Colonel can take care of himself, Cadet Stark. Don't worry about that." Flowers assured the worried pair. "You're dismissed, head back to your unit, it's a big day tomorrow."

They saluted and filed out, taking the signed slips he handed them on their way.

They left Castle Black subdued.

"Don't worry, Jon. We'll talk with Benjen soon, and you'll finally have your answer." Arya told him firmly.

"It will be a relief to finally know the truth about if Benjen is truly my father or not." Jon admitted, but it was tinted with worry. "But won't things change? If the answer changes our relationship—"

"Don't worry about that," she stopped him. "No matter the answer, Benjen will always be in your life. And you'll always be like a brother to me, Jon."

He gave her a grateful smile, reached over, and mussed her short damp hair, making it stick up in places. "And you'll always be my little sister."

Arya grinned back, reach up to him and gave his thick dark curls a muss of their own. "Brother!" she laughed as he tried to swat her hand away, but she was too quick for him. "Don't give what you can't take!"

She started to run from him, back to their barracks and he took chase after her. They were going to be fine, no matter what happened.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Agh, so close to the answer—but no cigar! I know that in the A Song of Ice and Fire and eventually in Game of Thrones tv series, they're zeroing on the conclusion that Jon is the by-product of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and Wylla was a milk mother for him—But I always liked the thought of Benjen being Jon's father and for that Wylla has to be the mother that in the beginning everyone thought she was.**
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> **The Garden and Greenhouse** = The Garden is located in Brandon's Gift on the western side coming before the bathhouse, laundry, and toilets. It is tended by the officers and recruits of the Wall. A cross between an outdoor garden and greenhouse, it is where the Wall get's all of their fruits and vegetables all year round.
> 
> The Fence = Separating the Beyond from the Land of Always Winter and the scattered Wilding encampments. A double reinforced fence that extends the whole 300 miles from west to east, through tundra and the a gorge cut through the Frost Fangs, not in a complete straight line. It extends upward to 100 feet tall, barbed wired, with the top jutting outwards at a 75° angle (to help prevent climbers.) There are security cameras and manned guard towers at interval that all report back to Shadow Tower, (the main security hub of the Wall). It also has a localized electrical current running through it at all times. But it is not an indefinite security measure. 
> 
> Wildlings = They are the free people that do not answer to the laws of the Seven Kingdoms or the Rule of the President. They are stationed in the section between The Beyond which is claimed by the Wall, and the Land of Always which has forever gone unexplored/unmapped by the people of the Seven Kingdoms. The are essentially a cult—a self-identified group of people who share a narrowly defined interest or perspective, outcasts, governed by their own laws not acknowledge by the President. They are strictly believers of the Old Gods of the Forest. Some Wildlings wish to enter the Seven Kingdoms and become permanent citizens. If some can not get through, they try to bypass the official process and enter the Kingdoms illegally, often times by boat through the Bay of Ice or Bay of Seals, by-passing the sea-patrols on the water and docking at the nearest ports that are lax in their checking of papers.
> 
> Bear Island = is located in the Bay of Ice and home of the Seven Kingdoms' Immigration Depot. If a Wildling wants to become a citizen of the Seven Kingdoms, there information and requested is passed from the Wall to Bear Island to be processed and filed, and either granted permanent residence, temporary access, or denied completely.  
>  _~ A on-sight immigration officer stays at the Shadow Tower for when Wildlings do want passage into the Kingdoms.  
>  ~If a Wildling come to the Seven Kingdoms illegally they are sent back to beyond the Fence, but if they have committed a crime (while legally or illegally in the Kingdoms) they are sentenced to the Bloody Gate like all other major criminals.  
> Bloody Gate = Is the State Penitentiary located in the city The Eyrie, where people committing capital crimes and people caught immigrating illegally and have committed a grave crime are imprisoned._
> 
> King's Landing = Is where the President of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros is housed and rules from. (Like Canada's Ottawa with the Prime Minister in the Parliament Building & America's Washington D.C. with the President and the White House).
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _~Wylla Snow is from the farthest south of the Seven Kingdoms from the city Starfell, Dorne. She moved to the North to a small town in Winterfell called Torrhen's Square to start a fresh after graduating from college, where she met Benjen and started to date.  
>  ~Jon has always wondered who his father might be. He always dreamed that if his father could be anyone, it would be Benjen Stark. Benjen is his hero and everything that Jon pictured a father to be. As a kid, though he will only admit this to Arya, he always told the kids at school that Benjen was his father because they looked so alike. All he ever wanted was to know who his true father was._


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Jon is not related to the Starks... or is he? (the answer that you may or may not have been waiting for what seems like your whole life is finally going to be answered—maybe!)**

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

When the pair got back to the barracks, Thorne looked like he was about to explode when they showed him their excuse-ment slips and found that he was unable to punish them for be tardy. But Jon gave him several occasions to throw punishment at them when Thorne tossed them into Hell's Lane strung together with rope—it did not matter that they had gone through Hell's Lane early this same morning. Arya didn't blame him, she was having trouble concentrating as well on the course ahead when they had been so close to getting the answer.

They got through the tires okay, but they had to startthe pit over four times before they finally made it to the end; soaking wet in disgusting water, limbs trembling and strained. This made the wall all the more difficult to climb, her hand burning at the attention. Jumping to the beams was just as difficult. Arya and Jon both landed on their ribs a few times, grappling for a hold because the drop would most likely break an ankle or leg, even their neck if they couldn't stick the landing. They almost went overboard when Jon landed on the beam and his foot slipped off, he dropped right down, the hard wooden beam meeting his most precious groin. Arya had never heard a pained sound like with which left the boy's lips at the assault. He was hardly in the position to save himself and Arya jumped for him, grabbing as he started to fall sideways.

It took him almost five minutes to recover himself. They were hardly halfway through the course and most of their time was already spent. Thorne was going to be able to make their last day under his reign as mud eating and death embracing as he always wanted. The rope swing was the most hellish thing they had encountered so far. Arya grip was continually faulty, and Jon had trouble making the jumps, still feeling the pangs in his crotch. How they made it across, Arya was at a loss, they fell in as many times as there were ropes. When they came across the belly crawl, and Arya founded herself covered in mud, rotting guts, and old puke, all she wanted to do was just stop and lay there, rest a bit, but she pushed through and they made it to the balance beam. They had murdered their time limit and their elapsing was ever expanding. They managed to stay on the beam the whole 30 feet, but slivers found homes in their palms. They were dead on their feet for the five miles. When they finally finished, Thorne sneered at them and called them everything degrading in his vocabulary but it feel on deaf ears as they did jumping jacks that could hardly be called that.

That run of Hell's Lane felt like Hell Week all over again, with 4 times the agony—when she thought she was better than everyone else, but was surely put in her proper place.

In the shower, standing on shaking legs as the cold spray rained down on her, washing away her hell, the bandage on her right palm came loose and she discovered that sometime during Hell's Lane, she'd ripped the stitch that she was supposed to get remove tomorrow, from her hand. Talisa had placed the stitch at the center of her cut, and now she had a fresh tear in the flesh of her old wound, making a irregular 't' across her palm. She didn't even feel it through all the other things she had been feeling during the course. She held it under the spray and rubbed it with soapy fingers, washing away the dirt and whatever else there might be, opening the small cross-cut again.

When they got back to the barracks, she got the little first aid kit from their footlocker and sat on the locker—it felt like heaven just to be off her feet. She intended with just wrap her hand again, but Jon intervened, insisting that he do it as he sat next to her on the small space.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes but let the boy take her injured hand.

"What happened to it?" Jon asked, inspecting it with furrowed brows. "I thought you got it stitched and everything."

"It got ripped out during Hell's Lane, probably on the rope swing—that was pretty rough."

"I'm so sorry, Arya!" he blurted.

"Why?"

"I was distracted because of our meeting with Benjen. I was just so close to finding out the truth that I couldn't think about anything else—I preformed like shit and it really did turn into Hell's Lane."

"Jon," she murmured, feeling the slight sting as he sprayed her wound with disinfectant, it looking raw but the blood had already stopped. "It's not your fault. I was distracted too. We'll find out the truth—but what I want to really know... are you balls okay?"

"Arya!" he protested, looking up at her from her hand, his cheeks turning red at the mention of his balls. "How can you ask that so blandly?"

She scoffed. "If I asked how you shoulder was doing that would be fine, but because it's your balls it's not? That stupid, Jon. Just tell me how your balls are and we can put this behind us." She gave him a seriously cheeky, straight-faced look.

"They're fine, alright?" he hissed at her. "Now can we please stop talking about my..."

"Balls." She supplied for him happily. "Nuts. Gonads. The ol' hangin’ fruit!"

"Yes, all of those! Now, please _stop_!" he was flustered, absolutely red.

She could never get enough of his reaction to things like that, even after he's seen her shower and go to the bathroom and all the other things in between—it was like he experienced it for the first time every time it happened. It's comedy gold! "Alright," she laughed. "I'll stop talking about your little buddies."

"Thank you," he huffed and started to wrap her hand up.

"Licking your wound, kitty-cat?"

Arya looked up at Chett standing in front of them, fouling the air with his indecent odour.

"What the hell do you want, rat?" she sneered at him. She was _not_ a cat, she was a _wolf_ , and all she wanted to do was tear his throat out. He sneered right back at her. Jon tied the bandage off.

At his appearance, Jon's face instantly masked into plan indifference—Arya was stilled impressed how he could do that so quickly, even after all their time together. "Do you have nothing better to do with your time, Chett? other than being annoying? Say what you're going to say and go scamper off to that dark little corner of yours alone."

Chett turned red at Jon's words, his acne turning brighter over his face. "Bastards, the pair of you. I know all about the two of you, I do. You think that just because you're related to Stark, you can get away with anything‘. Well I know, and if you think I'm just gonna let it go, you're as stupid as you are ugly." And then he turned and stomped back to the dark little corner that Jon had just talked about.

Arya and Jon shared a look.

"What an asshole!" Arya made a face.

"Did you hear what he said?" Jon asked her, looking back at her.

"Yeah." She flexed her newly bandaged hand. "Don't listen to him, he’s just trying to make waves—foul waves. If I just had a second alone with him..."

"Did you hear what he said about Benjen?" he insisted, ignoring her wishful thinking.

"Like I said, don't let it bother you." Arya lowered her hand and looked at him. "Benjen doesn't give special treatment, you know that."

"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about how he said we were all related."

"Well, it's not that far a stretch to assume that between you and Benjen." Arya pointed out. "Beside, we'll find out soon enough."

Jon sighed. "I know but—"

"Snow! Stark! On your feet now!"

Both cadets instantly jumped to their feet at the order. They hadn't even noticed that Thorne had come into the barracks, neither had half the other cadets, who, at the orders directed only at the pair, started and scrambled to their feet as well. Thorne made them do fifty push-ups for their inattention.

Thorne tromped up to the pair, eyeing them with his stink eye that was always there, and especially prominent in Jon and Arya's presence. "Colonel Stark requests your presence." Their hearts skipped a beat but outwardly they showed no reaction. "Get there on the double and when you return, there will be a a 10 mile march waiting for you upon your timely return. Now move! move! move!" he shouted in their faces.

The marched at a quick pace out of the barracks, all eyes on them, but as soon as they found themselves outside and out of view, they started to run through the night lit only by the scythe shaped moon in the star-pocked sky.

"This is it, Arya."

She glanced over at him as the ran through the main path to Castle Black, passing some other officers. "Take a deep breath, Jon. No matter what happens in there, nothing will change."

"It's just—" he took a deep breath and blurted, "the last time I felt this scared about something was when my mom died."

"You're going to be okay."

The finally came to Castle Black, but before they entered the building, they took a moment to collect themselves, and look more presentable, like they hadn't just run the whole way here. The hall seemed to stretch out before them, the stairs to the second floor felt like forever and then they finally came upon Benjen's office, the desk in front always manned by Jafer Flowers.

He announced them, waving the pair in and closed the door behind them. Benjen was seated behind his desk, crowded with a computer, phone, in and out boxes, folders and papers, but it was arranged in a neat manner.

"Stark and Snow, reporting as requested, sir." They saluted and then stood at attention in front of Benjen's desk.

"At ease. Have a seat." He told them.

The pair went to sit in the chairs that adorned the front of Benjen's desk, but the man stopped them. "The couch." The altered course and sat on the couch, in the same arrangement as they had earlier that day, but they were far from at ease. Benjen pulled over one of the chairs that was placed in front of his desk and stationed it in front of them before sitting in it himself. “I'm sorry that our talk got interrupted before, but I've cleared my schedule for the night so we won't be interrupted unless a emergency happens."

Arya could help herself despite the situation. "Is that what the Wildlings situation was?"

He gave her a soft and fond smile, but just shook his head at her; she felt the flicker of disappointment, knowing he wasn't going to tell her a thing further about it. Benjen leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped as he looked at Jon, who was sitting straight and tense like a rod.

"Jon," he took a deep breath. "Your mother was my best-friend, and I loved her very dearly. She loved me just the same, but when we were dating, as much as I wished to be with her, as much as I sent letters, and as much as I visited her when I was away from the Wall, it wasn't enough for her. Wylla deserved better, that was the reason why we broke it off, because I couldn't be there like she deserved, shower her with the affection and attention that was due her—but we agreed that we would stay friends." He paused for a moment, a woefully happy expression on his dark bearded face as he remember back to one of his more happy times in his life. "It was a couple days afterward that I was called back to the Wall and put to an extended mission. It was nearly a year when I returned, and next I saw your mother, she had a small babe in her arms— _you_ , Jon."

Jon was silent as he gave a small nod, his brown eyes never for a second leaving Benjen’s own. Though he already knew most of what the man was saying, he hung on every word like it was the first and last time he would hear them. Though Arya didn't seem to be included in this conversation, she didn't feel like a third wheel. But still, she didn't say a word, didn't move an inch, least she disturb the intense and personal conversation.

"I was startled to say the least," Benjen gasped a little, his eyes widening slightly almost like he relived the moment. "I asked her about you. I hadn't realized that she started seeing anyone else so soon after I had left because you only looked to a month and a half in this world. But when she said that she wasn't seeing anyone else as I looked at you, an amazing thought came into my mind. That you were my son." He was breathless now and he leaned back in the chair, his fingers going through his dark straight locks.

Jon had shown her an old photo of his mother, and she knew that he had to get his hair colour from his father. Wylla had curly, sandy coloured hair, but his was the colour of pitch just like Benjen's.

"I was scared to ask, my heart hammering in my chest. I had devoted myself to the Wall and this Country. I had always wanted a family someday, a wife and kids, a place to settle when I finally retired from the Night's Watch. I contented myself with all the nieces and nephews from the brother,"—he glanced to Arya, his favourite niece, before looking back to Jon—"After the two of us had separated. And as I saw you with your mother, my heart filled with that hope again."

Jon's own heart was pounding in his chest, his fists clenched in his lap, his palms a little sweaty. He never knew before, how much Benjen had wanted a son before, as much as he wanted a father for himself. His heart ached and warmed with every word that the man spoke, but it felt like a hand was coming to clench around his heart. The way that Benjen was speaking, to Jon it sounded like Benjen was not his father after all—it was a painful thought. But he listened, because even if that was the truth, he needed to hear Benjen tell him so—so that he could finally know that truth of this all once and for all.

"Maybe she saw the way that I looked because she had this own look on her face too. But I could never bring myself to ask—afraid of the answer—and she couldn't bring herself to say. Even after such a long time away from each other, how many things had changed in our lives, we were still close. I'm happy to be a part of you life, Jon—that will never change."

It took a moment for Jon to get the words from his throat and out his lips. His voice was strained, his expression forcibly blank, but quickly cracking. "So... You're not my father."

Benjen sighed and sat on the edge of the chair, his fists clasped between his knees. "I don't know." He admitted. "We never spoke about it, your mother and I. Maybe she thought it was for the best that it go unsaid. She was looking out for the both of us,”

"But it's my life!" Jon shouted, jumping to his feet. "How could she keep something so important like this to herself—from _me_ , from _you._ " Tears welled in his brown eyes. "If she had just told you, things would have been different... things would have been better."

"She did what she thought was best." Benjen murmured.

"No! She was being selfish—selfish until the end!" he cried out angrily.

"You don't mean that, Jon." Benjen said firmly, standing to his feet.

Arya watched them with widened eyes, stuck at her spot on the couch, unable to move.

"I do!" he insisted, tears leaking down his cheeks. "She had no right to keep such a thing to herself. She saw what we were like, how close we were together, but she never said anything."

"Jon." Benjen grabbed Jon's shoulders and held them tight. "Your mother loved us both, and we loved her. We might never know if I am your father or not, but that doesn't change what we have. Blood or not, it doesn't matter to me. You _are_ like a son to me, I love you no matter the truth because that is it. You are my son, Jon." The man pulled the boy in and hugged him fiercely.

Jon cried into his shoulder and Arya felt tears prick her own eyes, unsure what to do until Benjen extended an arm towards her. She jumped up and rushed over to them. She squeezed them tight, her face pressed to Jon's shaking shoulder. Blood didn't have to tell them that they were family.

 _-tbc-_   
**********Game/of/Thrones**********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'm not sure what Wylla actually looked like, so the description here is completely made up. So, we still don't truly know whether Jon is Benjen's son, and we probably won't—but what does that matter when they are already like father and son, like blood, whether they have the proof or not?**


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Ages are listed as the following:  
>  Robb - 19  
> Sansa - 17  
> Arya - 16  
> Bran - 14  
> Rickon - 11  
> -  
> Jon - 18  
> **

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

When they finally left Benjen's office and Castle Black, Jon had stopped crying, but was silent and Arya felt unnerved by it—but knew she should wait until Jon spoke about it first. They still did not know the ultimate truth, but she believed that Jon needed what had happened, to finally hear what Benjen felt about him. When they finally got back to the barracks, it was lights-out for the rest of the unit, but Thorne had been waiting for them with the promised 10 mile march that he promised would be waiting.

Arya was just tired, all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep, the day and even longer night had been punishing both physically and emotionally—especially on Jon. It was around 0300 by the time that they finished their march and were allowed a-bed. Tomorrow, or today apparently, at 0700 would be their third-year graduation ceremony and then their two-week leave from the Wall before retunring as fourth-year corporals. Though she was dying to speak with Jon, they were both exhausted and needed the few hours sleep that Thorne afforded them for tomorrow-today, but she was determined to speak with him about what happened before they went their separate ways.

—

It was after the third-year graduation ceremony, and the newly fourth-years were soon to be shipped off back home. Those from all the way down south would literally be shipped back aboard one of the ships from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, it was much quicker in fashion. While Arya was proud and exited to now be of a official rank, though be it the lowest, at the Wall, and the prospect of seeing her family again, she did not want to do so without speaking with Jon.

Dressed still in the colour of the cadet, but with a silver talon-pin pinned to her breast and her new rank as corporal pinned to her shoulder straps, she searched for Jon through the sea of green, grey, black, blue, and brown. She felt butterflies in her stomach and told herself she was stupid, but couldn't not stop the stray thought that Jon might not actually want to speak with her.

Though she thought that last night with Benjen had ended pretty well, considering, with a big group hug in the end—the first one that Arya had ever experienced—maybe Jon didn't feel the same. He hadn't spoken to her since, and it was the longest stretch of silence between them

And then she finally spotted him; no one had that same pitch, thick, curly hair as Jon. His back was to her and he was speaking with another graduated third-year cadet. Though she had never met him before, she knew who he was anyways—there were only a few who Jon was so friendly and himself with. She pushed back the spark of nonsense jealousy because Jon was speaking with him and not her—but she would soon correct that.

"Jon!" she called to him, and he said goodbye to his former partner and friend Sam and turned to her.

"Arya!" he smiled at her and she hesitantly smiled back.

"Can... Can we talk, Jon?" she bit her lip, feeling unsure despite the smile. "The Winterfell bus leaves at 1400."

Jon would be staying at the Wall because that was where his family was, Arya wished that she could stay too, but knew that she must go home to her family back in Winterfell—it had been a year since she had seen them in person, or spoken to them the same or on the phone; their only contact had been by letter and through Catelyn's famous cookies that she sent a container of each month. But she needed to mend the family she had here first.

He gently ruffled her hair. "Sure. I know that you've wanted to since yesterday night, and I wanted to say thanks for not pushing me."

She grinned at him as they walked from the crowd and found themselves once again at the Garden and Greenhouse—it seemed this was the place to talk family in the Brandon's Gift.

"How are you doing... with everything?" she asked him.

He leaned back against the shed wall, his hands tucked behind his back and he gazed out at the stretch of open garden in front of them. "I doing okay, actually. Even though I never found out whether Benjen is my true father, that can't take away from the relationship that we already have." He turned his head and looked down at her. "I'm so grateful to you, Arya."

She couldn't help but look at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

He smiled. "I was so afraid for all these years to confront Benjen about being my father or not, it kept me in the past all this time." He stepped from the wall and grasped her small, but strong biceps and looked her straight in her big grey eyes. "You pushed me passed that fear, you came with me down the path that I feared for such a long time. Because of you, I don't have that ghost weight on my shoulders of what-ifs—it doesn't matter that I still don't know who my true father is because I had Benjen the whole time. It doesn't matter if we're bound by blood or not, he is like a father to me. And _that_ is why I am thankful towards you."

She felt her cheeks warm, embarrassed at the attention, but liking it nonetheless. "I had been afraid that you might resent me for putting you through all of this." She admitted to him softly, her brows creased with worry as tears pricked her grey gaze.

He looked started by this. "Arya, I could _never_ resent you for _anything!"_ He pulled her into a fierce hug. "You are my best-friend, my little sister, aren't you. I love, not hate you—you're my family, Arya. _My family."_

She pressed her face into his chest, hugging him back, feeling the coolness of his silver talon-pin against her flushed cheek. The tears that had collected at the corner of her eyes, dribbled down her cheeks. "And you're _my_ family, Jon." She palmed the wetness from her cheeks as they finally pulled apart. "I wish you would come with me back to Winterfell."

He chuckled softly. "That might have been nice, it would be interesting to meet the people who know you best, to hear all the crazy stories about you."

"They don't know me like you do, Jon." She couldn't help but whisper.

"It will be just two short weeks, sweet Night Wolf." He chucked her under the chin like a mother and her small child. "And then you will be back at the Wall and we'll be training as Night's Watch Crows."

She lit up at the reminder. "You're right, being away for two weeks will make it all the sweeter when I get back."

"That's the idea," he smiled. "Plus you'll get you fill of things on the outside world that you can't get at the Wall—warm showers, junk food, sleeping in..." he looked wistful. "I'm so jealous!"

She laughed. "I could sneak you out on the bus if you really want me too."

"Just make sure that you bring back some of your mum's cookies—that'll put me right after the withdrawal of you absence."

"You can bet on it!"

He ruffled her hair one more time before they were forced to part and Arya had to make her way back down to the New Gift where the bus was that would take her back to Winterfell. Though she was glad to finally see her parents, brothers and sister again after a whole year, as she climbed onto the bus in the civilian clothes she had first arrived in, she found herself already missing her best-friend, partner, and brother Jon Snow.

—

She had sent a letter home, telling her parents when she would be back. She was dropped off back at Winterfell's APA Stadium from where she had gotten onto the same bus to be taken to the Wall. Through the crowds of girls and boys and their families, she weaved her way back towards the old imitation weirwood tree that was the Stark meeting spot. She had to admit, it was a little weird not to be surrounded by uniforms and wearing one herself. She forgot how _bright_ all the different colours the clothing could be.

Her whole family was waiting there; mum, dad, Robb, Bran, Rickon, even Sansa. Catelyn got her arms around her youngest daughter first, and then Ned joined them, wrapping them both in his strong arms. And then before Arya knew it, her three brothers joined them and then even Sansa did for brief moment. First a family group hug with Jon and Benjen, and now this—she could swear this was the most she had hugged in her entire teenage life.

They finally pulled apart, but not before Catelyn showered every inch of Arya's face with busses. She shuddered at the attention, but forced herself to endure the attention and affection.

"Oh, Arya, my dear child!" Catelyn cried, caressing her face. "I am so glad to have you back in my arms again."

"Mum!" Arya sighed, holding back the roll of her eyes. "It's only been a year... but I've missed you too."

"We've all missed you, Arya." Ned murmured, stroking her short locks of hair.

She smiled at him. Though Catelyn was forced to come around to her going to the Wall, Ned had always been there from the beginning. Robb was the one that reminded her mother couldn't stop her from going her own way, at least not on this. Sansa was always against anything she did, but she had missed her older prim sister anyways. And Bran and Rickon had been the only proper playmates she had, at least when she wasn't off causing unparalleled trouble for others.

She wasn't going to say it was like she never left, because being with her family had never been this fun before. They never got on so well before, at least not like this. She was only going to be here for two weeks, that included the four days it took to get to and from the Wall, so she wasn't going to be her usual self and ruin the occasion because who knew how long it would be before she saw them again.

Robb challenged her to an arm wrestling match, and she readily accepted. It wasn't something new between them, before the best she had gotten was one out of a five stage round. She managed to over power him three times out of five, this time, he was so impressed that he took to losing well. It had been great fun. She wasn't the same girl she had been.

It was bed time. She had been on a reutine for the last year and found it hard to break, so she went lights-out the same time that her littlest brother did, which was before 2300. She didn't feel much when she found out that her room was given to Rickon after she went away to the Wall, it felt right. She was leaving that chapter of her life behind and it only seemed proper that her parents recognized that.

Her room had always been the smallest of the bunch. Robb was the oldest son, Sansa the oldest daughter—so they got the biggest rooms after their parents—and because Bran and Rickon had shared, theirs needed to be big as well. But she never cared much about that and if she ever had, having but a narrow bunk and small footlocker had taught her a neat lesson on the matter.

Her space for her time back in Winterfell was a air mattress on the floor, but that didn't bother her either. She'd been in the Beyond, a real sleeping hell—she’d slept in rocky caves naked, in tree roots, and 30 feet up in the branches in the howling wind, in makeshift igloos—the air mattress was like a bed of down feathers to her.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Robb asked her.

She scoffed at her brother. "You don't have to worry about this, I've slept on way worse."

Her looked at her curiously. "Like what?"

She paused for a moment, trying to think of a good one for him. She grinned as she thought of it. "Okay... at the Wall, there's this wilderness training area where they leave us off in the middle of nowhere and we have to find our way back within a time limit—well anyways, Thorne, our drill instructor was a real bastard this one time and decided to drop me and Jon—"

"Who's Jon?" he interrupted her.

"What?" she was startled.

"Jon? Who's he?"

"Oh. He’s my partner. All third-years get partners."

"Third-years? You've only been there a year!"

She looked at him. "Haven't you been reading any off the letters I've sent home?"

He looked a little ashamed as he scratched the back of the his head. "I've been a little busy with school and everything, and I met this girl—" She stopped him with a raised hand, she didn't need to hear that sort of thing. "Sorry."

"Whatever." She brushed it off. "Six months into my first year at the Wall, Benjen moved me up to the third-year unit because of how well I was doing, and partnered me with his best cadet Jon Snow."

"Wow." He smiled at her. "I always knew you would be completely awesome at this stuff!"

She felt her cheeks warm at the attention. "Anyways," she brushed it away. "Thorne dropped us in the tundra, right up north against the fence—that's 150 miles from the Wall—so we start heading in the other direction of it and couple hours later a blizzard blows through. It's freezing, we're blinded, disoriented—we've got to find shelter before this storm kills us, but the only thing out on the tundra is snow. We tried making a makeshift igloo, but the winds and texture of the snow ain't in our favour—but if we can find something natural made; something like a rock, or splintered ice…

"By chance, pure luck, we come across a snowdrift that could afford us some shelter from these awesome wind. We hunker down next to it and it's holding against these winds that are going at least 60 mph, but something about the drift is a little odd. As the gale is slowly eating away it, we find that it's not just a normal drift... some white bear died right there, and the snow built up and around it, cocooning it from the whether and other animals that would make a meal out of it. The storms killing us, we can't handle it much longer out in the open, even with all our winter gear..."

They were sitting on the air mattress blown up on the floor, the living room light dimly by a single lamp. He was on his knees, sitting at the edge, looking at her like a little kid getting told a scary story for the first time.

"Well? What did you do?" he asked, eager.

She can't help but chuckle, glad that her older brother is enjoying this as much as she is telling it. She hadn't really been able to share much of anything with anybody—Jon experienced it with her, and she couldn't write stuff like this to her parents—but she knew that Robb totally wouldn't seem the harm in a story of her near-death and gruesome survival.

"Freezing, right next to each other we can barely see a thing, let along discuss our options—he's got the pack and takes it off and pulls out the machete," he sucked in a intense breath, waiting. "And I instantly know what he mean's to do." His face is turning red, he can hardly take it when she keeps pausing the way she does, grinning in enjoyment at him when she does. "The only way we can survive this blizzard is if we cut our way into the bear and take shelter."

"What?! You can't mean—!"

"Oh yeah!" She nodded. "This bear is a beast to behold, it's huge! and could easily pit the pair of us. Before the corpse could completely freeze rock solid through, the snow drift that accumulated over it created a natrual heating barrier. Jon thrusts the machete into its stomach and jerks!" she made the same action as Jon had, emphasising on it. "The blood is like sludge, thick a congealed, but there still a warmth to it. He opens it up wide, and we got to pull out its guts to make room for ourselves, until finally we crawl inside. The cold took away the smell of it on the outside, but inside, it's a different story completely. Covered in this beasts insides, its like rotting flesh and meat, the smell makes us choke and gag, but it's not unlike the smell of the belly crawl in Hell's Lane." He looks pale, and almost sick himself—if he thought hearing about it was this bad, he should have been their in person. "Being in that corpse, there was a fine line between us surviving the cold from outside, and the vapour from the corpse suffocating us from hours buried inside it—the only air coming from the slit we cut to get inside."

"Ugh! That disgusting, Arya!" His expression and disgusted tone were complimented by the repulsing noises he was making at the back of his throat.

"Trust me, that's not even the worst thing!" She waved his exclaims of disgust away.

"Gods, Ar! How are you alive—if that wasn't even the worst you've been through up there?" he gasp.

"I love it, Robb!" she told him. "Even the horrible parts like that. I was made to do this and I never want to stop. This was the best choice I ever made in my life."

"I believe you," he told her softly, giving her a smile.

She gave him a smile back. "You can't ever tell mother about this." She warned.

"Oh, I do not plan to be the messenger on that particular front. Your secrets safe with me, don't worry about that." He mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key. "Goodnight, dear sister." He murmured and gave her a quick hug goodnight before he left her alone in the living room and went to his own room upstairs.

"Good night," she whispered, and turned the lamp off, and fell back onto the mattress in the darkness.

As she lay there in the dark, not surrounded by 39 odd chainsaw snorers, night farters, Jon's smooth even breathing a few feet above her head—that was who she thought about. After being with him constantly, it was odd to be without him. But she told herself that it'd be 12 more days and she'd be back at the Wall again—so she would take his advice for the time allowed her.

She took long, hot showers everyday, almost 30 minutes long; even a bath or two that extended over an hour until the water went cold and the bubbles evaporated. At the Wall, their meals had always been controlled; what kind of food, how much calories, fat, sugar, salt content, and the portions too—here, that wasn't a problem. The first night, when mother slid a bowl of dumpling stew in front of her, she took herself three servings and nearly made herself sick—she forced more control unto herself the next time. She tried to go to bed late, and sleep in the same, but routine was hard to break when it had been drilled into you for a year running; that was why she always found herself running 10 miles each day, and threw in some callisthenics to even things out.

Robb had joined her on a few of these runs, but couldn't make it passed the half-way point—though he had always scored in the top ten in the APA course all through high school, he had hardly done anything athletic worthy since he had started studying at the university for this business degree.

It was good to back in Winterfell, but she belonged at the Wall, that was her home now, the rest of her life—with Jon at her side—and she was ready to go home again.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A great place to end the fic right? You’re probably right, but I hope you are glad to know that I’m not ending it here. So click next and read on to the next chapter!   
>  The Key:**
> 
> 3rd-Year Grad. Ceremony = There is not a ceremony for 1st graduating to 2nd and 2nd graduating to 3rd. But a small, private little ceremony is issued for the 3rd-year cadets because they are getting promoted to a higher rank, a corporal. This is when their uniforms switch from green, to a grey BDU.
> 
> General Officer = A graduated officer of the Wall that has not taken to a specialized unit in the Night's Watch, such as Crow, Hawk, Gull. They are generalized in their duties, like picking up the slack that the Night's Watch soldiers leave behind.
> 
> Uniforms= From coporal to any higher ranking officer, they all have names on breast, rank on shoulder straps. As well as the Wall badge, even the ones in specialized units.  
> ~Recruits/Cadets: A green battle duty uniform, with a simple silver leaf-pin on the breast.  
> ~Coporals/General Officers: A grey battle duty uniform. Corporals have their names and silver talon-pin on their chest. Officers have the same grey BDU with rank on shoulder straps (without talon-pin), and (both) a rectangle grey badge with the Wall depicted, on the shoulder.  
> ~Night's Watch Crows: a black BDU, with rank on shoulder straps, and Crow Unit patch on shoulder. Circular; white background; big, black, glossy crow at center with wings spread in flight.  
> ~Night's Watch Hawks: a brown BDU, rank on shoulder straps, Hawk Unit badge on shoulder. Square; green grass background; a weirwood growing at center.  
> ~Night's Watch Gulls: a blue BDU, rank on shoulder, Gull Unit badge on shoulder. Triangluar; blue waves in background, a silver scaled fish leaping at center.  
> ~Wandering Crows = have the black uniform, the wall badge, rank, Crow unit badge, but they also have a diamond shaped badge with a black-purplish background, and a single, black, glossy crow's feather at the center.
> 
> Formal Dress Uniforms = a more formal and put-together (aka fancy) version from the usually worn Battle Dress Uniforms worn for everyday training, and missions at the Wall, in the Beyond and elsewhere in the known world.  
>  _~Includes: ceremonial sword, all decorations awarded pinned on chest, tie, dress shoes, etc.  
>  ~ Recruits/Cadets do not own a formal dress uniform because the do not become a acknowledged member of the Wall until they achieve a true officer's rank in their fourth-year._
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _~ Because Jon has no family to go home too, he always just stayed at the Wall. That being said, thought he doesn't have training, he still has duties that he must attend if he stays, such as: running errands for the officers, helping in the kitchens, inventory, etc._


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Ages are listed as the following:  
>  Robb - 19  
> Sansa - 17  
> Arya - 16  
> Bran - 14  
> Rickon - 11  
> -  
> Jon - 18  
> -  
> Gendry - 18  
> Ygritte - 19  
> **

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

The last time that Arya had felt such excitement and anticipation was when she had first been driven north to the Wall from the APA Stadium in Winterfell; that had been the beginning of her new life. But now, this second time around, things were a little different, she was coming back to her second home, to continue her life that had been put on pause when she came back home to Winterfell to visit with her family before she became the truly first female corporal at the Wall Military Academy, biggest military depot on Westeros in the Seven Kingdoms.

When the bus arrived at the main gate to the Wall and they were ushered through, the new fourth-years, all boys but her, were corralled into the medical building for their physicals to see if they were all in the tip-top shape they had left the Wall in at their return from the free outside world. After being violated by Dr. Mordane, much like she had the first time, and deemed fit she was given a fresh pair of grey BDU with her rank and name; then sent on her way with the rest of the returned Winterfell corporals and taken to their new quarters in the Nightfort where all the fourth-years were housed in double-bedded cells.

This was where she would finally see Jon. It had only been two weeks since they had seen each other, but it felt more like two years. Since he had stayed at the Wall, he would already be staying in their sleep cell and had his physical that was due him. And it would be tomorrow that they found out who their assigned ranking officer that would be taking over their new training regiment of becoming a Crow of the Night's Watch. She didn't know which she was more looking forward to, or maybe she did.

Her room was on the third floor of the tower. She stepped into the already lit room, a big smile on her face as she looked at the older boy in the grey uniform with his back to her. It was good to be home! But the smiled quickly dropped from her face when he turned and it wasn't Jon standing in front of her. Confusion swam through her, must be the wrong room.

His hair was dark as tar, a thick shaggy mane on his head. His eyes were the deepest blue she had ever seen, there was no way they could be real. His shoulders were broad, he was taller than Jon, with full lips and a square jaw. Clad in a grey uniform, the rank of corporal, the talon-pin on his breast and print that said G. WATERS.

"Who the hell are you?!" she blurted, too thrown off balance by this turn to give a shit about niceties or whatever. Who was this guy? Why was he here? Where the hell was Jon?

The older boy didn't look offended though. "Gendry Waters, but most call me the Bull." He took a step to her and held out his hand, she shook it for better lack of not knowing what else to do, even when the last thing she wanted was to shake his hand. She was sure that he was a nice guy, but where the hell was Jon? "I'm your new partner."

"What? What are you talking about, Jon Snow is _my_ _partner_!"

Gendry shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pant pockets. "My old partner dropped out, and over the leave, we got assigned together. I don't know about your old partner—"

"He's not my old partner." She muttered. "You must be confused."

"I'm not. I guess no one told you—"

"We are _not_ partners!" she yelled.

He looked a little started at her outburst and sighed, glancing briefly toward the roof, maybe even the sky beyond. She had never seen him before, but there were two assigned third-year barracks. Thorne trained each of them, but separately. It wasn't a wonder that they hadn't run into each other before. But she didn't much care about that now, or him. Jon was her partner, it was as simple as that—she didn't care for the inconvenience her reaction might affect this boy.

She ran from the room and Gendry without a word, she needed to find Jon, to know what was going on. Arya found Jon's cell, it was on the second floor. The door was open and she came in without knocking or permission. Jon wasn't there, but there was a girl sitting on one of the bed, fiddling with a small knife. Arya stopped short and the other girl looked up at her with clear blue eyes.

She was tall, beautiful with flaming red hair twisted and pinned into a bun like they had been taught on the first day, despite the covering of the grey fatigues, Arya could still tell she was all sharp edges underneath to go along with her sharp chin and features.

Why was another girl here? She was the only female forth-year at the Wall. She knew all the first-years girls—now second-year—and didn't recognize her. She would’ve remember this girl, so what was she doing wearing a uniform with Y. FOLK on the breast and doing in Jon's cell?

"Who're you?" she asked bluntly before Arya could.

"Where's Jon?" she demanded, her grey eyes narrowed.

The girl narrowed hers back. "What's it t'you?"

"None of your business." She said, not caring if she sounded rude.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, now where is he?" she repeated.

"Well, then... I think that's none o' your business neither, girl." She said, her legs crossed at the knee, her chin up.

Arya glared daggers at her, her hands clenched into fists at her side. "He's my partner, so tell me where he is!"

"Haha." She laughed at that. "If you haven't noticed, he's _my_ partner, girl—has been for th' last two weeks, we be sharin' the same cell as you can see."

"He's my partner, has been for the past six months!" she exclaimed.

"Not no more, he ain't." She smiled at her and it took everything Arya had not to attack her, the other girl could see it too.

Arya turned and stormed from the cell with a departing growl and a promised return. None of this was right, everything was wrong. She shouldn't have left for those two weeks. She needed answers. She couldn't seem to find Jon so she was going to have to find them somewhere else. Anger drove her to her next destination.

She ran all the way to Castle Black. Red-faced, she by-passed Flowers completely and burst into Benjen's office without appointment, without being requested, without being introduced. She didn't care, she needed to know what was happening, why her world seemed to be falling apart, starting with the hugest piece—Jon Snow.

"Oh!" Benjen looked up startled as Arya burst into his office. "Arya?"

"I'm so sorry, sir!" Flowers gasped, rushing in after the girl. "I tried to stop her..."

Benjen looked from the fuming girl in front of him back to Flowers. He signed, he should have been expecting this. "It's fine, Flowers." He waved the officer away.

"Are you sure, sir?"

Benjen nodded. "Yes. See that we're not disturbed." Flowers nodded and backed from the room, shutting the door and leaving the two Starks alone. "Arya—"

"Where's Jon?" she interrupted. "Why are we not in the same cell? There was a boy I never met before in my room instead, and when I found Jon's, there was another girl there instead. Was there some sort of mix-up?"

Benjen sighed again and set his pen down. "There was no mix-up, Arya."

"What do you mean? Jon and I are partners!" She exclaimed.

He shook his head. "Not anymore, Waters is your partner from now on."

"What are you talking about? There has to be a mix up!" she insisted.

"There isn't." He stood from behind the desk and came around front to stand in front of his niece. "That Wilding situation the day before the graduation ceremony—it was a Wildling girl that wanted to leave the clans and join the Wall. There was a lot of red tape about the whole thing, but ultimately the immigration officials and Mormont couldn't see the harm in it—we have started to allow females in after all. We tested her, to see her skill level and saw the skill, and raw talent that she had."

"But why is she with Jon?" she asked quietly, and ache in her voice.

He leaned against the edge of the desk and put a hand on her shoulder as he looked down at her. "I needed someone to partner her with, one that would be an easy fit. Jon's the one that came to mind. Waters lost his partner recently, so I put you with him."

"But why wouldn't you put her with Gendry then, and leave me and Jon out of it?!" She shouted, slashing her hand through the air between them. "He was the one that needed a partner, Jon and I were just fine. Why couldn't you put _them_ together? He's my partner." Her voice was desperate. She felt angry and sad tears coat her gaze. "He's _mine!"_

"I know you're fond of Jon, Arya." He murmured softly. "But Jon and Ygritte are a better match than her and Waters, so were you and him."

She shook her head rapidly, she didn't care. "How can you do this? How can you tear us apart like this? You partnered me and Jon up for a reason in the first place, you always said that together we were the future of the Wall—and then you just break us up for some experiment?!"

"Stop acting like a spoiled child!" He told her firmly, suddenly.

She looked at him in surprise and shock as he stood up and towered over her, looking down at her with narrowed eyes—such a sudden change in moods. "It's already done, all the paperwork if filled. Jon is no longer your partner, Arya. You can either deal with it and bond with your new partner Waters, or you can leave the Wall. Your decision." He gave her a harsh ultimatum as he sat back down behind his desk.

She looked at him open-mouthed. "You can't—!"

"Dismissed, Corporal Stark." He told her with finality, and went back to his paper work, ignoring her completely.

She stood there in front of his desk, looking at him, shocked and confused for a moment longer as she fought the tears that threatened to spill over the edges of her eyes. She gritted her teeth, forcing them away and the welling emotion down. "Yes, _sir."_ She managed to get out, saluted stiffly and marched from her uncle's officer—though she had entered to an uncle, she had left to a Colonel.

She didn't look at Flowers as she left Castle Black, but she could feel his sympathetic gaze and she hated ever second of it. When she got outside, she turned and went around to the side of the building and stopped at a corner that was never frequented, from sight, in the shadows, and pushed herself into it.

She took a shuddering breath and then her will back in the office crumpled away and a gasping sob broke from her throat, the tears coming back and dribbling hot from her eyes. She could hardly think back on the last time she had cried like this. It must have been when she was about five or six, she didn't think Rickon was even born yet, though her mother might have been pregnant and Bran was a babe. Even at that age, Arya was more independent than a kid that age should be, she would go off on her own and worry her parents half to death.

She'd found this stray dog, skin and bones and feral, but it must have been beautiful once; but she bonded with it and though she knew her parents would never allow it if they knew, had snuck the dog into the house and to her room so she could take care of it. All went well for a day or two, until one day, Catelyn came into her room with a vaccuum while the girl had gone down to the kitchen to get the dog that she had taken to calling Nymeria, some food. And things went to hell. The animal was skittish around people and loud noises sent it into a fright, it must have been abused before it was abandoned because to everyone but Arya (who fed it), sent the animal on a flight or fight path. It was unfortunate that the loud of the vacuum and a stranger sent the canine into a attack trajectory.

The second Arya heard her mother trudge up the stairs and into her room, she went running back up the stairs, she'd just made it into her doorway as Catelyn turned on the machine. Nymeria barreled out from under the bed where she had claimed her space in Arya's room and straight for the older woman. A growl that rivalled that of the vacuum, lips peeled back to reveal sharp fangs. Catelyn screamed, Arya screamed, Nymeria stayed its course. The only thing that saved the woman was her automatic response to block her face. The metal vacuum hose came up and into its path, they clamped around the tube.

Ned must have just arrived home then because he burst into the room after Arya, grabbed his wife away, and his youngest daughter too, and slammed the bedroom door closed just as Nymeria had released the vacuum and leapt for the door, slamming into it.

Baby Bran was crying, screaming his head off in the next room. Nymeria continued its frenzy in Arya's room, as the continued noise of the vacuum drove it to madness. After checking to see if Catelyn was unharmed, he sent her to the baby and them demanded answers from the frightened girl.

"Go to your mother," he said, and ushered his daughter to the baby’s room. He went into the master bedroom, and the last thing Arya saw before she closed to door to the room, was her dad heading to her bedroom with a pistol in his grip and a sad, determined look on his face.

She knew what her father meant to do, and she trembled in fear. There was nothing for it now, the animal was dangerous. The report was a great and tremendous sound, even for the vacuum and the barking that instantly went silent as Catelyn tried to calm baby Bran and Arya was wracked with shaking sobs as tears burned trails down her cheeks at the loss of the only friend she might of had.

But this loss, the loss of Jon was a far greater sickness inside of her. Jon was a true friend, but now he was gone. Their bond wasn't theirs anymore. She lost her partner.

Her heart ached inside of her chest, she clutched at the material of her uniform, and old stone of Castle Black rough against her cheeks and side of her forehead. She never felt anything like this before, this kind of loss.

She didn't know how much she loved Jon, needed him, until just now, until she lost him. He was her blood brother, but he was gone now. Where the fuck was Jon? Why couldn't she find him? Why hadn't he tried to find her? Was it because she left? They talked before she did, and she thought that they had mended any damaged fences between them. She thought of the lethal looking red haired girl in the cell, flipping the stiletto knife between her long and deft fingers. Was that Folk girl so much better than her? She had hardly been here two weeks, and had been placed in the fourth-year division—so much quicker than when Arya had been placed with the third-years.

She slid down the wall to the ground, the brick lightly scraping her cheek. The tears still came, but more sluggishly so. She had no one to blame but herself.

 _-tbc-_  
**********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Intense, huh? So sudden with the Arya-breakdown, I know... Even though the last chapter looked like a good place to end this fic, since I put that little piece about the Wildlings, I couldn't stop thinking about Ygritte joining the Wall and Benjen partnering her with Jon, and then I thought that I would just throw Gendry in there to even things out with Arya. I just love Ygritte's "You know nothing, Jon Snow." bit, it's the best part about her character. Ygritte doesn't have a last name, or if she does, I've never heard of it; so I just made it FOLK because she's part of the Free Folk.  
>  "WHERE THE FUCK IS JON?!" sorry about the bit of repetitiveness.**
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> **4th-years** = as being promoted to corporal and becoming an official officer of the Wall, they are given double-bedded quarters in the Nightfort tower, often called sleep cells. Each pair of partners is given a ranking officer from their specialized detachment, under the command of Colonel Benjen Stark.
> 
> Nightfort tower = This is the tower at the Wall that houses all the forth-year corporals, along with their assigned ranking officers. There is a small shower and toilet facility located on the first floor, where the RO cells are also located (it is mostly used by them/the corporals usually just go to the bath house in Brandon's Gift on the Eastside). [This used to be the main headquarters back in the old days when the Wall was just starting out, but it wasn’t big enough so the built Castle Black as a replacement.]
> 
> Partners = In the 1st-year, cadets are trained as an entire unit; usually consisting of all the recruits in the same barrack, i.e. 40. 2nd-years start doing things as partners, but not permanently with a single pair. 3rd-years get permanently assigned partners that they stick with into 4th-year training unless one drops out, is killed, retired, or reassigned, and then new partners are issued.
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _~ Arya's breakdown seems so sudden, but is it really? She's driven to all the wrong conclusions, if only she could just find Jon!  
>  ~ Where the fuck is Jon?! (I couldn't help it *giggles*) But seriously, where the fuck has Jon gotten to?  
> ~Ygritte was the Wildling-situation the day before the ceremony. Unlike with the Seven Kingdoms, the Wilding have no such qualms with females doing ’a-man’s-job’ . They can take care of themselves, and anyone who lives in the land between the Wall’s Beyond and Land of Always Winters has to be a tough SOB to survive. Like Jon had mentioned previously: it’s life and death every second out there, flipping a coin… Life-or-Death.  
> ~Gendry has been at the Wall as long as Jon has, but had been assigned to the second third-year barracks under Thorne’s command, and never interacted with Arya and Jon’s barrack unit._
> 
> **Thanks for Reading!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Got some new appearences for ya!  
>  The Ages are listed as the following:  
> Robb - 19  
> Sansa - 17  
> Arya - 16  
> Bran - 14  
> Rickon - 11  
> -  
> Jon - 18  
> -  
> Gendry - 18  
> Ygritte - 19  
> -  
> **

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

It was the toll of the tower clock that brought Arya from her stupor, the tears long since running dry on her face. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, rumpled and feeling groggy. She couldn’t sit in the corner and cry anymore feeling depressed.

Benjen had given her an ultimatum—leave or fall in line. The Wall was her life, her whole future. If the last year had taught her anything, it was taking orders on command and instinct; that despite personal feelings, to carry out the order anyways.

She needed to wash away this last hour, and headed for the showers in Brandon's Gift on the eastside of the compound instead of the showers in Nightfort—she needed to gather herself before she head back there.

Amazingly enough, and something that had never happened before, the showers were empty. She was the only one here. She was going to take advantage while she could. She stripped from her uniform and padded into the cold tiled, open room on bare feet. She chose a showerhead a little ways in, to give herself some space, and then turned it on.

She stood directly under the head, and it sputtered for a second as it always did—the plumbing was old—and the frozen stream hit her directly in the face. She gasped, shuddering, the temperature waking her right up as he cascaded across her body. It had been two week since she had a cold shower, and she'd almost forgotten what it was like. But she needed that cold now, to shock herself from the cobwebs hanging around her. She needed to perk up.

Goose bumps covered her flesh, her nipples pricked. Her renewed short cropped hair turned dark and weight full with water—her hair had grown since she first had it cut, and after her physical, before they gave her her grey uniform, they'd trimmed it back again.

As she started to lather up, she heard voices coming from the front change room and knew that her time alone was over with. She glanced out of the corner of her as they entered and against her will, instantly recognized the naked Chett. Her first day back—and this was the last thing she needed.

His beady eyes came to her instantly, she could _feel_ it. She hid the shudder that wanted to go through her and instead made a nasty face at him over her shoulder and gave him the finger. "Fuck off, pig."

He sneered back at her as the others started their showers, but he stood there dry, leering at her. "Don't you mean you want me to fuck you."

She openly gaged. "I'd rather be fucked by a eunuch than you—at least they had more balls than you."

He faced turned red, his acne looking angry and alive. "Poor little princess, you don't have a your precious prince with you anymore, do you?" he mocked her.

Arya felt herself go hot with anger under the cold spray as another corporal came into the showers. She blindly acknowledge that it was Gendry, even though she only been in his company for about 5 minutes a couple of hours ago. They instant he saw her, he turned his deep blue gaze away, his face and neck flushing as he took a showerhead a few down from her. Gendry seemed to be much like Jon in that respect, modest about the fact that she was a naked girl showering at his side. She found that the thought saddened her, but she was too over come with fury about Chett bring up Jon. Those wounds were still fresh, open and weeping.

She gritted her teeth, her fists clenched as the cold spray continued to hit the back on her shoulders. He smirked at her, knowing he had hit a fresh nerve and wasn't going to let go now that he had the perfect bait.

"Found a better one, ain't he? Threw you to the curb like a whore!" He laughed at her, his fat jiggling in a gross manner.

Gendry looked over at him in shock. "Hey! What are you—"

Arya's grey eyes narrowed as she growled threateningly in the back of her throat, warning him to back off. But there wasn't a chance of that.

"Used you up, like a little bitch slut. With your used cunt and his tiny cock. Found somethin' better in that Wildling that replaced you. How he put up with you as a partner all this long, a weak, small, easy—"

Arya let out a war howl and leapt for the bastard, her anger and hurt taking a hold of her body. He had only chance to widen his eyes before her knuckled fist met his nose with a crunching sound. He gave a guttural cry of shock and pain as the power behind her fist shoved him back, before her bodied collided with his, crashing his down onto the slick tiles floor. Shocked gasps escaped from the other showering recruits, but she ignored it, righting herself and going on the attack once again.

She vaguely heard her name being yelled, but all she could think was that she wanted to kill this pig beneath her. He tried to block her strikes with feeble moves, but she broke through all the same. She had put of with him for too long, he should have backed off while he had the chance. His face was red, but it wasn't from his acne. She pulled back her fist, ready for another blow when strong arms wrapped around her middle and yanked her off the boy beneath her.

She gave a wordless scream and struggled to be free from the slick and bare body firm behind her, but he was stronger than her, until finally she just gave up and slumped in defeat in the grasp. Most of the other recruits had rushed over to Chett, who lay moaning of the floor, his mashed face covered in blood, while another had ran from the showers to get help.

"Are you finished?" he murmured in her ear. She didn't have to look behind her to know that it was Gendry holding her. After a moment, she nodded her head. "Okay." he slowly let her got and then lead her from the showers to the locker room. "Better get dressed before the SFs comes."

She robotically dried and then dressed in her uniform again, before sitting on the bench and waited for the suspension or expulsion that Benjen was going to give her when she was apprehended by SFs and taken there. Gendry had dressed too and despite everything, waited with her.

An officer comes with Dr. Luwin carrying a case to attend Chett, who now has a towel wrapped around him and is sitting on a bench on the other side of the room from Arya. Another two officers came and collected her, leading her from the showers and back to Castle Black and her fait, leaving Gendry on the bench gazing after her with worried blue eyes despite just meeting each other.

Despite herself, she'd disgusted with the other boy. Chett has a broken nose and a split lip at the most, but he's acting like she kneecapped him with a stolen pistol from the armoury lock-up. She did him worse when they were under the controlled eye of Thorne for their close combat training lessons.

When Flowers announced her, his tone was subdued. Two hours earlier she had barged in past him, and now she was back again after being the cause of a violent disruption. And when Benjen looked across the desk at her standing at attention, let's just say that Arya had never seen her uncle angry before. But seated in front of her was not her uncle, but the second-in-command of the Wall Military Academy. There was no familial connection between them in this instant, just a Colonel and lowly Corporal.

She had saluted upon entry and stood at attention on the center of the room, from the door to his desk. He didn't tell her to be "at ease" like he had all the other times she had been in the office with Jon or otherwise. She stared straight ahead, her spine straight, shoulders back, chin up, arms straight at her sides, her black booted feet together and facing forward.

He didn't say a word as he looked at her, and she slowly started to grow uneasy in the silence, something that he most likely wanted. He slowly rose from his desk, his chair pushed back by his legs. He walked around it and stood in front of her, staring down at her—and she ended up staring just below his right clavicle, and a silver thread on his black uniform.

"I am sorely disappointed in you, corporal." He told her, giving his head a slow and disapproving shake. "Your first day back at the Wall, two weeks after you are promoted to a corporal and official officer of this institute, and you barge into my office unannounced and without appointment, and now this incident in the showers?"

Arya stayed silent because she knew that it was a rhetorical question, she didn't want to risk being in any more trouble than she already was. As he slowly started to circle around her, his expression staying in that same disappointed and disapproving state. He made three rounds of her before pausing in front of her again.

"Your training for becoming a Night's Watch Crow will be withheld for the following month." He informed her. A whole month?! her eyes widened slightly, but she had expected worse—but that didn't mean it was easy to take. "What you have done is inappropriate in the extreme, corporal." He continued. "Attacking a fellow officer is a disgusting act." She was about to protest that Chett was _not_ her fellow in anyway, but Benjen caught her and stop her words with a stare that bellied both heat and coldness. "You should thank your Old Gods that I am not throwing you out!" She gulped. "You will be on slop duty for that appointed time, and afterward, your place at the Wall will be up for further discussion."

She inhaled sharply at that. Slop duty?!

Slop duty was even worse than spud duty, it was what happened when grub time was over with. The Wall kitchens used real pots and pans, real silverware, and real ceramic dishes—and at the end of each meal, hundreds of soiled dishes needed to be washed, dried, and stowed away for the next meal. The kitchens ran pretty much all day, though they only served three-square meals a day. The staff woke up a 0400 to do prep work for breakfast that fed up to a thousand mouths, and clean up started instantly so they could be ready for lunch and the same went for supper; it was around 2100 when they finally packed it up for the night. Then they started the process over again—working the kitchens was one of the most gruelling tasks at the Wall.

Having your area squared-away was not the same things as cleaning. Cleaning was a mundane and annoying chore, but squaring-away was a fact of life for her.

It was a harsh duty, if a appropriate one. She knew that she deserved worse than this, Benjen was right—and she silently thanked the Old Gods of the Forest for her good fortune.

"Sir?" she needed to know.

"What?" he barked, sitting behind his desk once again.

"What of Corporal Waters, sir?"

"What of him."

"If I'm to be put on slop duty, sir, what of his training?"

"Waters was not involved in this altercation. In fact, I was informed that he was the that pulled you off Corporal Chett, isn't that correct?"

"Correct, sir."

"That's all, corporal. If something like this happens again... you're out, Arya." he told her quietly, intensely. "Dismissed."

Her grey eyes flickered to his for a brief moment before staring back ahead and Arya saluted. "Yes, sir." Her tone was monotonous and left his office.

She was to report immediately to Hobb, ruler in the kitchens, in time for the sup rush.

—

It was around 2100 when Hobb released her from his duty, and that was how Arya discovered a different kind of Hell. Her back and feet aching, a kink in her neck, her thighs trembling, the skin from her elbows to her finger tips, red with irritation from the burning water and industrial cleaning solutions, blisters on her palms. When she finally got back to the Nightfort, and took a quick shower in the in-house showers, it was 2200 by the time she got to her and Gendry's cell.

The light was on and he was laying in his bed above the sheets. When she came in, he sat up, throwing his legs over the side. "Hey,"

"Hi." As much as she wanted to do nothing more than fall onto the bed and sleep, she made herself side on the edge of her own bed that was placed on the opposite wall from Gendry's in the small room. Though she had been nothing but a bitch, he had only ever been nice to her. "Gendry...?" she murmured hesitantly, her sore hands gripping the edge of the mattress on either side of her thighs.

"Yeah?" he watched her, waiting.

"I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you!" she blurted.

She was startled when he gave a deep chuckle. "That's fine. I was the same at first too, when my previous partner Hot Pie dropped out. We became friends in our first-year together so it was hard—but at least I had almost two weeks to get used to the idea of a new partner, and a girl one at that. You only found out when I sprung it on you." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed. "If I had known that no one told you, our first meeting would have gone completely different... but that second one was just bizarre."

She gave a small chuckle at that. "Those weren't the worst I ever had... Thank you for pulling me off Pooch, if you hadn't I probably would have killed his naked ass."

Gendry blushed a little, at the reminder of what happened in the showers. Not particularly Arya beating up Chett, but the fact that his body just reacted and he had grabbed Arya from him, naked or not. "T-that's fine." He glanced away from her.

"You’re going to be a lone ranger for the next month, sorry about that. Colonel Stark put me on slop duty, and I'm withheld from Crow training for the time being." She explained, feeling shame.

"The colonel, I heard that you guys are related or something."

Arya expected no less. "Yeah." She nodded, her eyes downcast. "But he doesn't play favouritism. He's not that kind of man, he treats everyone just the same." _But that doesn't mean he doesn't have favourites_ , she reminded herself. Jon was his favourite. Jon was her favourite too. Everything would be fine if she could just talk with him, maybe none of this would of happened if she had just been able to find him before she'd run into Gendry, or even after when she went to his room and came upon Ygritte instead—Chett wouldn't have been able to get to her then, because she never would have had a break down, because she never would have barged in on Benjen and he ever would have given her a do-or-die option. But it was completely too late for thoughts like that.

"I never said that." He admonished. "It must be nice to have family so close... unless you came here to get away from that sort of thing."

Arya shook her head. "Last year was the first time that they allowed girls to run the APA course; I was sick of being told that I couldn't do it. I proved them all wrong, I got the top score for all the females that ran in the Winterfell Stadium. I had always dreamed of being able to come to the Wall and now I finally got there. After the first six-months, I was moved in with the third-years and partnered with Jon who was a top third-year cadet—but now it seems I fucked everything up in under five hours." She held up her hands in a gesture of defeat and sighed. "I didn't mean to drag you with me."

"You didn't drag me anywhere, Arya." He told her. "You just made things more interesting."

She looked over at him with a raised brow. "I hope I'm not here just for your entertainment."

He flashed her a small smile. "Just a bit. You know everyone’s heard of you... the She-wolf of the Wall."

"What?" her face scrunched up. "Please tell me you’re kidding."

"I might have made up the name, but the fact stays the same. Everyone may not _know_ you, but they'd have heard of you."

"Great." She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Did you really not know that?" He asked her unbelievably.

"Why would I want to know about something stupid like that? That had no bearing on how I do here. It's useless nonsense that'll just become a distraction if I pay it any attention."

"I guess you’re right."

Arya nodded. "Time for lights-out; we both have an early morning." She yawned and stretch, her back among other things cracking.

"Have a nice sleep."

"You too."

Arya stripped to her under clothes before turning off the light and climbed under the blanket, wanting for a much needed rest. Maybe tomorrow, if she get a break with her time in the kitchens, she could find Jon and have the talk that was much in wanting and needing today, but had not been come by.

 _-tbc-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Key:
> 
> Spud Duty = As punishment, cadets are sent to the kitchens to help with the painstaking prep work for the coming meal; such as peeling and chopping all the veggies, like potatoes, yams, etc.
> 
> Slop Duty = Can be another form of punishment for recruits, it's the even more gruelling task of cleaning the kitchen and dishes after a meal. Washing hundreds of dishes, pots, pans, silverware, and taking out the remains, and then taking the veggie peelings all the way to the Garden and Greenhouse to use as compost.
> 
> Stark Notes:  
>  _~Gendry has never known his father, and was raised in a poor neighbourhood in the South, near King's Landing, by his mother until he was three and she died of a drug overdose. He was put in foster care from then on, which wasn't any better, and joined the Wall the first chance he got. His former partner was Hot Pie, who dropped out because he couldn't handle the extreme activity and threats at the Wall, he was always in a state of nervousness and fear... it was a wonder that he had lasted as long as he had._


	18. Chapter 17

**The Wall Academy: Elite Military Training Depot**

_Chapter Seventeen_ **:** —

Arya had woken up at 0400, which wasn't that much of a change, and in her grey corporal's BDU, went from the Nightfort to the eastside of Brandon's Gift to the kitchens. Her new job entailed cleaning as Hobb and the others went, because it would take 24/7 if the people on slop duty only came in when all the cooks and aids where finished all the prep work and cooking, the kitchen would be ready in time for the lunch run. So she was on stand-by as the attendants peeled, chopped, cracked things, and then was up when all that they left behind was their leavings.

She had to haul two two-gallon lidless buckets to the Garden and Greenhouse for their compost patch. They were a bit heavy but she managed, just relieved on the return trip when they were rinsed and then filled with some more whole and ripe fruits and veggies that needed to be taken back to the kitchens and would be used as extras for breakfast, and even lunch this afternoon. When she returned, Hobb instantly sent her to the sinks to start washing dishes. The kitchen smelled good with all the cooking food, but it became lost on her by the sinks where all she could smell was the cleaners. She removed her jacket and donned a plastic apron and started on the dishes already soaking in the sink.

She winced as she put her hands in the scalding water, but she did not jerk her hands out like her nerves wanted her too. After cleaning several dishes, she grew used to the temperature and was able to work more efficiently.

She wondered what Gendry was doing right now. He would be with Lieutenant Karl Tanner who was their ranking officer and Crow instructor. She was going to fall behind. It was just like when Benjen dumped her suddenly with the third-years and she only had half the education and training of a first-year. She scrubbed a little rougher at the dishware with the scrub brush in her anxiety and frustration. She wondered where Jon was, and if he was with his ranking officer too, she hated the fact that he would be with _her_ as well. She'd only met Ygritte once, and she'd taken a great disliking of her. Arya didn't care if the feeling was petty or not.

The dishes kept coming, and when she was finally done washing, rinsing and drying them, the breakfast rush was over, and Hobb let her break for an hour to rest and have a left over serving for herself with the other cooks and attendants.

She sat on a bench in the empty hall with a tray of pancakes and eggs. Her back was already starting to ach after standing over the sink for nearly four hours. After she was finished eating, she jogged over to the toilets, and by the time that she came back, Hobb set her to cleaning the hall that she had just vacated. She set to work with a sigh, spray cleaner and a rag to wipe down the table tops. She swept the floor, and then went to the back again and cleaned the soiled trays that the cadets and officers had stacked up. When she was finished with that, Hobb sent her over to the Gardens with the two buckets of food leavings.

Despite herself, it was the flaming red hair that caught her attention, and then the pitch curly hair. Jon! She nearly tripped and spilled the two two-gallon buckets of food leavings to the Garden and Greenhouse. She opened her mouth, his name ready on the tip of her tongue, but then the pair was gone, disappearing around the corner. That flare of joy she had felt at the sight of him vanished as he did.

She stood there, breathing through her nose for a moment, resisting the urge to kick over these stupid fucking buckets! She was stuck here, in forced labour, a fucking servant by all accounts, and he was with _her_ , training to be a Crow. It should be her running beside Jon, training next to him, not _EE-grit._ Gods, what kind of name was that anyways?!

Two weeks ago, she'd been happy, the happiest she'd been. But she wasn't happy anymore. She didn't know what she was, all she knew was that it wasn't that. She tried to see Jon, to speak with him. But she could never find him, and the first time that she glimpsed her best-friend and former partner, her was with _her_. Why hadn’t he tried to find her like she had him? He had to know what she was feeling about this whole thing. Didn't he care anymore? Had Chett been right, when he said that Jon had found someone better? The thought brought bile to the back of her throat. How could that girl be better than her? Just because she was older, taller, had been born to a place where there were no laws, to grow up young, placed with the fourth-years on her first days here. Those were all _stupid_ reasons. Arya was the best, not _her_. She was the one that surpassed most-all the boys in the year that she had been here. Why didn't Jon want her anymore? Why didn't he care enough for her to at least find her and tell her how things went down? Benjen had enough courtesy to tell her what-was-what, even if she had to barge in on him for him to do it, and then attack Chett. At least he _told_ her.

She felt like crying again and was disgusted with herself. Had her time here really hinged on being with Jon? Was she that much of a weakling? When had she become so needy?

The last six months, she had been with Jon nearly 24/7 with the exception of their square-away periods when they would go their separate way for most of the hour. And now, without him, she never felt so alone. She never minded being alone before all of this, but being with someone constantly for that amount of time, was bound to change a person. She gritted her teeth in anger at herself and everything else—Jon didn't seem to care, then she wouldn't either. She had Gendry now. Waters was her partner, not Jon. In a month it would be so, and she could put Jon behind her. Yeah, two could play at this game.

She picked up the buckets once more and continued on her way to the Gardens; despite her determination, she felt no different no matter how much she might try—her resolve on the matter was weak.

She was late coming back with the food from the Gardens and Hobb was pissed, she'd been holding up the line and now they were behind. He made her sweep the floors, and then set her to the dishes again. She had a whole month of this. By the end, there'd be no skin left on her arms. The least they could have done was give her gloves, but that didn't seem like it would happen. Before Hobb had released her at 2100, he sent her out back the kitchens to hose down the dumpsters. It was 2200 hundred by the time that she got back to her and Gendry's sleep cell. The other boy was already snoring in bed, tucked under the blankets—at least he had left the dim glow of the desk lamp on.

She fell into bed exhausted, and fell to sleep rather quickly despite her internal feelings.

—

Her sleep hadn't been as restful as she would have liked. She kept dreaming about Jon. She missed him so much, it was like an ach in her heart. They were family, weren't they? Blood brother and blood sister. So _why_ hadn't he tried to talk with her? Was Ygritte that much more better?

Before she went to the kitchens and Hobb sent her to work, she made her way to the showers in Brandon's Gift on the eastside, intent on having one herself. It had been late when she had gotten back and she was just to tired physically and emotionally to take one before going to bed. But as she stepped into the steamy tiled room, she turned right back around, redressed in her uniform in record time, and got out of there.

 _She_ had been in there, and now Arya knew why Chett had said the things that he did. Ygritte was like Sansa. Beautiful. She was slim, not an ounce of fat on her. She wasn't flat-chested, but had breasts the size of grapefruits. She was all curves, not a straight line on her. Lethal. In comparison, like with Sansa, Arya was U-G-L-Y. It would be humiliating to shower next to her—Arya hadn't felt this self-conscious in such a long time.

She ground her way to the kitchens, her fists clenched and glaring at the ground. She could never compare to the other girl, never. It was then, now, that she realized that she was just a little girl and Ygritte was a woman.

"Do or Die," she told herself. She needed to suck it up, this hot jealousy, or it would become her down-fall. She couldn't let something as petty as that distract her, let something so stupid ruin her career. This was life and life was never fair. You were dealt a hand of cards, and you just had to deal with the cards. "Do or Die," Gendry wasn't a bad guy, she knew that already. And his skills couldn't be that bad if he was a fourth-year just like her—and actually having served the three previous years—unlike her.

When this month ended, and they were actually together, she had to stop treating him like he was second rate. He had lost a partner too, one that he had known and been with longer than she had been with Jon, but he wasn't acting like a crazy bitch about it like her. She promised that she would be better. "Do or D—Agh!" she crashed into something, or someone, while she was busy not paying attention.

She swiped her bangs off her forehead and looked forward in the dawn light to the person that she had just been thinking about, the person that she was trying to make herself put aside but was unable to. "Jon?!"

"Arya?" He looked at her in surprise and then a big smile spread across his face. "Arya!" He grabbed her in his arms, hugged her tightly, pinning her arms to her sides and squeezing the air from her lungs.

Arya couldn't be sure, with her face smushed ed into his shoulder, but she was sure that he spun them around. She was confused. Fighting with anger and happiness, only able to take in his scent. Gods, she'd missed him so much. Finally, after a minute, he set her back down on her feet.

"Gods, Arya, it's so good to see you!" He told her, his hands on the edges of her narrow shoulders.

"It is?" she found herself asking, looking up into his warm brown eyes.

"Of course!" he furrowed his brows in confusion. "Aren't you happy to see me too?"

"Yes..." she turned her gaze away.

"You don't sound it."

"Jon..." Just to say his name out loud...

"Arya," he squeezed her shoulders and she looked at him again. "When I knew that the buses were coming back, I tried to find you. First in the New Gift, and then again in the Nightfort but every time I tried, it seems like I just missed you. It got to the point where I started to think that you were in an accident or something or maybe you didn't even come back to the Wall after Benjen told you about switching partners. So I went to see him, and he told me that he wasn't able to tell you about it before you met your new one, and then you went and had a fight with Chett in the showers. He told me where he sent you as punishment, and when I was able to get away from Lt. Col. Qhorin and get down to the Kitchens—but that Hobb guy wouldn’t let me see you."

"Really?!" she gasped. He nodded. All this time, she had been blaming him, blaming herself, feeling so angry, frustrated, jealous, hurt, to see that Jon wouldn't ever just abandon her like that. "I tried to find you too! I went to what I thought was _our_ cell, only to find Gendry there instead. _He_ was the one that told me that you and I weren't partners anymore." She glanced away in embarrassment. "I acted like a complete child, screamed at him and stormed out of there. I found your room, but I found that _woman_ there instead, and she wouldn't tell me where you were." Tears pricked her eyes. "I wanted answers so bad, and I couldn't find you, so I stormed into Benjen's office and demanded answers."

"That must've not gone well," he murmured.

She chocked on a chuckle. "As you can tell afterward when I went and broke Pooch's nose in the showers because he kept talking shit and wouldn't back off."

"What shit?" he wondered.

She bit her lip and shook her head. "That stuff doesn't matter, not now. Anyways, as punishment, Benjen pulled me from Crow training and put me on Slop Duty for the next month, my status as Crow-in-training pending." He winced in sympathy. "I was so stupid, Jon!" She cried. "I thought that you didn't care, that you left me, that you preferred Ygritte over me. I was angry and confused. I couldn't understand why you hadn't come talk to me. I fucked up, Jon! I fucked up so bad!"

"I'm so sorry, Arya!" He pulled her into his chest again, and she cried. "It was just a string of stupid misfortunes that kept us apart. I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to find you sooner. I had no choice in the matter. I tried to fight it when Benjen told me what he was going to do. I couldn't understand why he couldn't just partner Ygritte with the other boy who's partner quit. But he was oddly persistent on the matter."

She turned her face so it was her cheek pressed against his chest, his heartbeat in her ear. "I asked the same thing," she sniffed. "And he chewed me out for it."

Jon sighed into the dawn. "He must be planning something, that's all I can think it must be."

"It's not like he would tell us until it was absolutely necessary, and maybe not even then." As Jon loosened his hold around her, she stepped back and palmed her wet cheeks. "You, erm," she bit her lip. "She's not better than me, is she?" He looked down at her with a raised brow and her grey gaze flickered away, embarrassed. "Never mind!"

"Arya," he chuckled lightly and her gaze darted back to his soft brown ones. "No one's better than you. There is no one in the Seven Kingdom's, all of Westeros, across the Narrow Sea, the entire known world that can compare to you." He smiled. “You're just too good to even attempt replacing.”

"No you're just blowing smoke up my ass, Jon." But she was smirking as well.

"Little sister," he laughed lightly and mussed her hair. "You are the wolf in the night, the true She-wolf of the Wall."

"Did you just—" She looked startled at that last bit; Gendry had called her the same thing two nights before.

"What?"

She shook her head, her dark brows furrowed. "What you just called me—She-wolf of the Wall—I was talking with Gendry the night before last, and he called me the same thing... he said _everyone's_ heard about me." She scowled. "He said he made the name up!"

Jon shrugged his shoulders passively, looking amused. "The grapevine sheds many a juicy berry."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

He smirked, looking up at the coming sun off the eastern horizon instead of her. "I told you no one could replace you, Arya. You're going to be a legend in this place," he looked down at her with intense eyes. "Whether you want it or not."

"Hmph!" She grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "The grapevine does nothing but cause trouble, I suggest you stop listening to its nonsense."

"You're flustered!" He crowed, realizing as he peered closer at her.

"Shut up! I am not!" She denied. But in truth, maybe she was. She'd never had this kind of attention before, anonymous or otherwise and Jon saw right through her. "Shut up." She repeated when he kept grinning at her.

He stood up straight again. "A hero, Arya, that's what you're going to be."

"You're wrong." She told him firmly. "It's you, who is going to be a hero one day. It is you who is going to be Lord Commander of the Wall." She raised her arms in the air as she saw him grow flustered at the attention in his turn, and turned a full revolution, encompassing the entire Wall compound. "You are going to save the world, Jon Snow... whether you want it or not!"

He gave a deep sigh and shook his head, his dark curls bouncing. "Alright, if you say so—but not for a long time yet. Deal?"

"Deal." She agreed and they shook upon it. "We'll save the known world one day, but not this day, not yet."

"Where were you headed?" he asked her.

"To the kitchens," she made a face. "You?"

"Looking for Ygritte." Her lips tightened. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "That didn't seem like nothing."

"Do you wonder if she was the only one?" she said suddenly.

"What?" She was trying to change the subject, he knew, but was curious despite himself.

"I mean, the day before the ceremony, would Benjen really needed to have gone to the Shadow Tower, just for one Wilding girl?" _woman_ —she silently corrected in her head. "Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?"

Jon shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he went because she was asking about joining the Wall."

But Arya shook her head. "Did she ever tell you? Why she wanted to join the Wall, I mean."

"No. But it's not like I asked her either. What are you trying to get at, Arya?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just thought that it was a little weird, that's all. Don't you?"

"Not until now," he complained.

"Oh well. We may or may not ever know." She brushed the issue aside. "I'm just glad to see you again!" she told him.

"Mm, me too. Me too," he mussed her hair again and she let him. It was thoroughly messed and knotted by now, but she couldn't care less—it would never get old. As long as Jon kept doing it, she would know how much they meant to each other.

—

They would find out later, that the Wilding situation the day before the graduation ceremony didn't just bring the young woman Ygritte Folk to the Wall, but several more Wildlings as well—seeking refuge in the Seven Kingdoms. Men, women, children, the old and the young. And with them, they brought tidings of the widely forgotten, long thought died out... White Walkers. The savages that had killed thousands of Westerosi, had been the sole justification of the Wall becoming erect and separating the Seven Kingdoms from the Land of Always Winter.

But not until later, much later. Right now, the pair, best-friends, former partners, were just happy to have found each other after their brief, but intense separation.

In the end, they would always find each other—Always.

 _-the end-_  
 **********Game/of/Thrones**********  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **After adding those two and now three extra chapters, I am finally drawing this fic to an end. I hope that you enjoyed it while it lasted, that very first preface gave me loads of trouble so I hope that what followed was as good as I believe it to be, but I'll let you readers be the judges.  
>  Thanks for reading until the end, and to those nice enough to review—thanks for all of those! **
> 
> **The Key:**
> 
> **Stark Notes:**
> 
> _~Arya and Gendry's ranking officer/Crow instructor is Lt. Karl Tanner (the one played by Burn Gorman)  
>  ~Jon and Ygritte's ranking officer/Crow instructor is Lt. Col. Qhorin Halfhand._
> 
> **Thanks for Reading!**
> 
> **~***~**
> 
> **CHECK OUT THE SHORT INTERLUDE SEQUEL THAT WILL BE POSTED ALONG SHORTYLY...  
>  "THE WALL (MILITARY) ACADEMY: INTERLUDE!" **


	19. The Complete Key & Stark Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This is not a chapter, but a list of the complete Key from all the chapters in alphabetical order, including the Stark Notes listed by chapter.**

**!~/Stark Notes/~ [Listed in order of chapter]** **~!**

CHAPTER 1: _**~** Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women’s rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms. **~** Benjen joined the Wall Academy after Lyanna_ _’_ _s death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night_ _’_ _s Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits. **~** Robb declined the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to become a businessman and work for his father, Ned Stark._

CHAPTER 2: _**~** Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women_ _’_ _s rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms. **~** Benjen joined the Wall Academy after Lyanna_ _’_ _s death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night_ _’_ _s Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits. **~** Robb declines the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to go to Winterfall U. and become a businessman so he can work for his father, Ned Stark._

CHAPTER 3: _**~** Brandon holds the best male course time in Winterfell, with _00(h): 29(m): 37(s). _He was killed in a hit and run incident outside the bar where he had gone to celebrate the best record in the north and his recruitment to the Wall on his last run of the course. **~** Ned did not join the Wall because of Catelyn and then his new born son Robb. **~** Lyanna died as a teenager while doing a non-violent protest for women_ _’_ _s rights and equality in the Seven Kingdoms. **~** Benjen joined the Wall Academy after Lyanna_ _’_ _s death at the age of 17 after his third run and is a Colonel of the Night_ _’_ _s Watch that helps the Lord Commander at the Wall to train recruits. **~** Robb declines the offer of recruitment to the Wall in order to go to Winterfall U. and become a businessman so he can work for his father, Ned Stark. **~** Arya has the best female course time in history with _ 00(h): 34(m): 42(s), _and is one of the first females to be recruited to the Wall Academy._

CHAPTER 5: _**~** Six months into her first-year of training, Benjen fast-tracts Arya to the third-years and partners her with one of his favoured cadets, Jon Snow. **~** Jon has no blood relation to the Starks... or does he?_

CHAPTER 7: ~ _Catelyn has a famous, awesome cookie recipe: it's a chocolate, oatmeal cookie with nuts and raisins mixed in, both yummy and healthy(?) (sounds pretty awesome, right?)_

CHAPTER 8: ~ _Jon's mother (Wylla Snow)[Snow is not a bastard's title here, but simply a surname] and Benjen used to date, but broke up later and stayed close friends. Benjen is the only thing that Jon has close to a father-figure and hero. Could Benjen truly be Jon's father?!_

CHAPTER 10: ~ _Is Arya drawing to a startling conclusion, or a absurd thought filled with dreams?_

CHAPTER 11: _~ Arya is one of the very few, almost non-existent cadets to never have been 'killed' in Craster's Keep, until this very harsh headshot that killed her under thirty-seconds of the drills start, within 10 seconds. Now, she holds the record in the top-five quickest 'kills' in Craster's Keep._

CHAPTER 12: _~Wylla Snow is from the farthest south of the Seven Kingdoms from the city Starfell, Dorne. She moved to the North to a small town in Winterfell called Torrhen's Square to start fresh after graduating from college, where she met Benjen and started to date. ~Jon has always wondered who his father might be. He always dreamed that if his father could be anyone, it would be Benjen Stark. Benjen is his hero and everything that Jon pictured a father to be. As a kid, though he will only admit this to Arya, he always told the kids at school that Benjen was his father because they looked so alike. All he ever wanted was to know who his true father was._

CHAPTER 14: _~ Because Jon has no family to go home too, he always just stayed at the Wall. That being said, thought he doesn't have training, he still has duties that he must attend if he stays, such as: running errands for the officers, helping in the kitchens, inventory, etc._

CHAPTER 15: _~ Arya's breakdown seems so sudden, but is it really? She's driven to all the wrong conclusions, if only she could just find Jon! ~ Where the fuck is Jon?! (I couldn't help it *giggles*) But seriously, where the fuck has Jon gotten to? ~Ygritte was the Wildling-situation the day before the ceremony. Unlike with the Seven Kingdoms, the Wilding have no such qualms with females doing ’a-man’s-job’ . They can take care of themselves, and anyone who lives in the land between the Wall’s Beyond and Land of Always Winters has to be a tough SOB to survive. Like Jon had mentioned previously: it’s life and death every second out there, flipping a coin… Life-or-Death. ~Gendry has been at the Wall as long as Jon has, but had been assigned to the second third-year barracks under Thorne’s command, and never interacted with Arya and Jon’s barrack unit._

CHAPTER 16: _~Gendry has never known his father, and was raised in a poor neighbourhood in the South, Flea Bottom, near King's Landing, by his mother until he was three and she died of a drug overdose. He was put in foster care from then on, which wasn't any better, and joined the Wall the first chance he got. His former partner was Hot Pie, who dropped out because he couldn't handle the extreme activity and threats at the Wall, he was always in a state of nervousness and fear... it was a wonder that he had lasted as long as he had._

CHAPTER 17: _~Arya and Gendry's ranking officer/Crow instructor is Lt. Karl Tanner (the one played by Burn Gorman)._ ~ _Jon and Ygritte's ranking officer/Crow instructor is Lt. Col. Qhorin Halfhand._

 _*_ **********Game/of/Thrones******** ***  
  


**THE WALL MILITARY ACADEMY UNIVERSE INDEX:**

**/#/**

**3rd-Year Grad. Ceremony =** There is not a ceremony for 1st graduating to 2nd and 2nd graduating to 3rd. But a small, private little ceremony is issued for the 3rd-year cadets because they are getting promoted to a higher rank, a corporal. This is when their uniforms switch from green, to a grey BDU.

 **4th-years =** as being promoted to corporal and becoming an official officer of the Wall, they are given double-bedded quarters in the Nightfort tower, often called sleep cells. Each pair of partners is given a ranking officer from their specialized detachment, under the command of Colonel Benjen Stark.

**/A/**

**Athletic Proficiency Assessment or APA =** the physical course test that grades each boy in high school from the age 15 to 18 in order to see if they are fit for the Wall Academy, or other such professions such as police, fireman, athlete; by order of the President with the leaders of the Military since the Wall first became a training facility thousands of years ago _. **~** The APA Stadium is like the super bowl stadium, though not as fancy, one built in each of the major cities in Westeros. **~** Just allowed females to participate and join the military._

 **APA Course =** Twenty-feet from the start point, their was a double row of a dozen tires to step through. After that was the wall twenty-feet tall that was to be climbed by net. Other side of the wall was the belly crawl in mud under a wire net. Next was the rope swing that transformed into spaced bars over a pit of water in the ground that was twenty-feet long. Some more tires. The balance beam that had the cushion of mud underneath. And finally, the 2 mile run around the field in the Stadium.

**/B/**

**BDU =** Battle Dress Uniform/fatigues.

 **Bear Island** = is located in the Bay of Ice and home of the Seven Kingdoms' Immigration Depot. If a Wildling wants to become a citizen of the Seven Kingdoms, there information and request is passed from the Wall to Bear Island to be processed and filed, and either granted permanent residence, temporary access, or denied completely. ~ _A on-sight immigration officer stays at the Shadow Tower for when Wildlings do want passage into the Kingdoms. ~If a Wildling comes to the Seven Kingdoms illegally they are sent back to beyond the Fence, but if they have committed a crime (while legally or illegally in the Kingdoms) they are sentenced to the Bloody Gate like all other major criminals._

 **Becoming A 4th-Year =** In order to become a forth-year and specialize, a cadet must pass all the final tests in each of the main Wall Military Units, such as camouflage and recon at the Shadow Tower, survival at Castle Black, and ship command at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

 **The Beyond =** The Beyond is a area that is as controlled as the military could make. It was 300 miles in length, 150 miles in width; the area just after the Wall's northern side and the area before the start of the Land of Always Winter. Fenced off, and complete with hundreds of hidden cameras to monitor the recruits' drills. The land consisted of a small mountain rang called the Frost Fangs, on the farthest upper West side; dense forest called the Haunted Forest, chocked with fog, laying on the length along the Wall; and covering the northern east of the Beyond was a cold, windy tundra covered in snow and ice; a river that ran through the middle, branching off into the West and East and lay frozen over in the tundra but not the forest. Of course, there were wild animals that still roamed, like mountain cats in the Frost Fangs, moose and the like in the Haunted Forest, and polar bears and mammoths in the snow tundra—controlled as it could be, it was still dangerous. ~ _First-years study the Beyond, but it's not until cadets become second-years that they start doing [survival] training in the Beyond._

 **Bloody Gate** = Is the State Penitentiary located in the city The Eyrie, where people committing capital crimes and people caught immigrating illegally and have committed a grave crime are imprisoned.

 **Brandon's Gift =** The section of land closest to the Wall was called so after Brandon Builder, the creator of the Wall, and section nearest the freeway. It held all the housing for the officers, barracks for the first-, second-, and third-year recruits [the fourth-year recruits housed in the Nightfort tower at the Wall in their double sleep cells/the partners from their third-year], the mess hall, the bathhouses, laundry facilities, storage, wreck rooms, and gardens.

**/C/**

**Castle Black =** It is the main command building of the Wall, holding all the high ranking officers offices. It is also the main command for the Night's Watches Crow Unit.

 **Craster's Keep =** Is a small, laid out village that was built in the New Gift to do gun drills, such as infantry. Built in with board targets and soft targets, cameras, and a platform built above the roofless course for the instructor to watch the exercise.

 **Crow =** The Night's Watch special ground forces stationed out of Castle Black, drilled as third-years by Drill Sergeant Alliser Thorne, but commanded by Colonel Benjen Stark.

**/D/**

**/E/**

**Eastwatch-by-the-Sea =** Looks out on the Bay of Seals. It was the Naval section of the Wall Academy, it was the shipyard that docked the Wall's ships as well as got supplies that couldn't be found on Westeros, or a quicker transport from all the way down South. And where the Gulls are trained and stationed.

**/F/**

**The Fence** = Separating the Beyond from the Land of Always Winter and the scattered Wilding encampments. A double reinforced fence that extends the whole 300 miles from west to east, through tundra and the a gorge cut through the Frost Fangs, not in a complete straight line. It extends upward to 100 feet tall, barbed wired, with the top jutting outwards at a 75° angle (to help prevent climbers). There are security cameras and manned guard towers at intervals that all report back to Shadow Tower, (the main security hub of the Wall). It also has a localized electrical current running through it at all times. But it is not an indefinite security measure.

 **Formal Dress Uniforms =** a more formal and put-together (aka fancy) version from the usually worn Battle Dress Uniforms worn for everyday training, and missions at the Wall, in the Beyond and elsewhere in the known world. ~ _Includes: ceremonial sword, all decorations awarded pinned on chest, tie, dress shoes, etc. ~ Recruits/Cadets do not own a formal dress uniform because the do not become a acknowledged member of the Wall until they achieve a true officer's rank in their fourth-year._

 **Frost Fangs =** Is a small mountain range located in the north-western quadrant of the Beyond. It has caves scattered all around, and some (usually the lower caves at the foot of the mountains), like the one that Jon had first discovered with Samwell Tarly, had a small hot spring in it, its wall covered in strange blue glowing moss. There is some runoff underground and that is why there is a river at the foot of the Fangs in the first place, and the reason why it’s not completely frozen solid.

**/G/**

**General Officer =** A graduated officer of the Wall that has not taken to a specialized unit in the Night's Watch, such as Crow, Hawk, Gull. They are generalized in their duties, like picking up the slack that the Night's Watch soldiers leave behind.

 **The Gift** = The Gift is a section of land before the Wall of 150 miles that house and train the new recruits and Wall officers. It contains Brandon's Gift and the New Gift.

 **Glowing Blue Eyes =** These belong to an old creature that comes from The Land of Always Winter. One that hasn't been seen since the Long Night and War of the Dawn, creatures under the control of long unseen and largely forgotten White Walkers. It cannot enter the groove of the weir wood/heart tree.

 **The Garden and Greenhouse =** The Garden is located in Brandon's Gift on the western side coming before the bathhouse, laundry, and toilets. It is tended by the officers and recruits of the Wall. A cross between an outdoor garden and greenhouse, it is where the Wall get's all of their fruits and vegetables all year round.

 **Gull =** The Night's Watch sea-going sailors out of the Wall's Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, lead and commanded by Captain Cotter Pyke.

**/H/**

**Hawk =** The Night's Watch camouflage and reconnaissance unit commanded out of the Shadow Tower, lead and commanded Ranger Denys Mallister.

**/I/**

**/J/**

**/K/**

**King's Landing** = Is where the President of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros is housed and rules from. (Like Canada's Ottawa with the Prime Minister in the Parliament Building  & America's Washington D.C. with the President and the White House).

**/L/**

**The Land of Always Winter =** This is what lays after the Beyond (the fenced in training area), it is the land where the White Walkers came from to invade the Seven Kingdoms before it became the Seven Kingdoms, and where they were driven back to at the end of the Long Night and War of the Dawn, and have not been seen since. **_~_** _The Wildlings live in the area that is between the Beyond and the Land of Always Winter. ~Any man that ventures out into the LoAW, never returns. Up until this day, the area still goes unmapped/charted._

**/M/**

**/N/**

**New Gift =** Nearest the King's Road is called so for the land was given to the Wall more recently a couple thousand years ago. It holds the parking lot, receiving area for new recruits, medical, and most of the on-grounds training facilities such as the shooting range and Hell's Lane.

 **Nightfort tower =** This is the tower at the Wall that houses all the forth-year corporals, along with their assigned ranking officers. There is a small shower and toilet facility located on the first floor, where the RO cells are also located (it is mostly used by them/the corporals usually just go to the bath house in Brandon's Gift on the Eastside). [This used to be the main headquarters back in the old days when the Wall was just starting out, but it wasn’t big enough so the built Castle Black as a replacement.]

 **Night's Watch =** an elite contingent of military officers and soldiers that contains three specialized forced at the Wall; the Crows, the Gulls, the Hawks.

**/O/**

**/P/**

**Partners =** In the 1st-year, cadets are trained as an entire unit; usually consisting of all the recruits in the same barrack, i.e. 40. 2nd-years start doing things as partners, but not permanently with a single pair. 3rd-years get permanently assigned partners that they stick with into 4th-year training unless one drops out, is killed, retired, or reassigned, and then new partners are issued.

 **Passages to the Beyond =** Queensgate, Stonedoor, and Rimegate act as gates or passages to the Beyond. Queensgate is west of Castle Black, Rimegate is east of Castle Black, Stonedoor is **** of Castle Black.

 **The President =** Robert Baratheon. **President's Counsel members =** P. Baelish, Varys, Pycelle, Reny B., Stannis B., Jon Arryn.

 **Physical Test or PT =** The Wall has a physical test course that the first- and second-years must go through at the end of each month that is similar to the APA course at the Stadiums. The third- and fourth-years must go through a tougher, more advanced course at the end of each week (called Hell‘s Lane) _._ **PT Course or Hell's Lane =** Twenty tires at the start. A 40-foot pit that had randomly scattered podiums the length of it that have to be jumped to with a surface area of 8x8 inch; at the bottom of the pit was slimy water, if you fell in, you had to swim to the edge and pull yourself out by a knotted rope. 20 foot high wall, climbed by rope. Once you reach to top of the wall, you're to leap to 5 horizontal beams 5 feet apart. From the beams is the rope swing. Then the belly crawl in a shallow pit of mud and rotting animal parts, 30 centimetres above you is real barbed wire. A 30 foot balance beam. Then a 5 mile run. All this has to be done under the time limit of 40 minutes.

**/Q/**

**/R/**

**Rankings =** Colonel is under the command of the Lord Commander.

 **Recruit Descriptors:** ~ _First-year recruits uniforms are blank but for the leaf pin dubbing them a green or new recruits who's names aren't worth knowing._ ~ _Second-year recruits get their names on their uniforms, with a grass pin._ ~ _Third-year cadets have a bone pin, and get a codename or nickname on their uniforms **~** Fourth-year recruits get a talon pin, their uniforms have their true names on the breast, are ranked as /privates/corporals, and have dog tags, stating their identification number, first initial, whole last name, on the second tag is their ID# and their codename. This year is when they are trained in specific duties that they will carry out as an officer when they graduate training school._

 **Recruiting Rules =** If a male/female is in the age range of 15-18 and want to join the Wall, they need their parents/guardians permission; but they do not if they get an official recruitment form from a Wandering Crow.

**/S/**

**SF =** Security Force.

 **Shadow Tower =** The post laid at the very western of the Wall. Command center for the Hawks and acted as the main information and security station of the Wall. This is also where the library is located.

 **Slop Duty =** Can be another form of punishment for recruits, it's the even more gruelling task of cleaning the kitchen and dishes after a meal. Washing hundreds of dishes, pots, pans, silverware, and taking out the remains, and then taking the veggie peelings all the way to the Garden and Greenhouse to use as compost.

 **Spud Duty =** As punishment, cadets are sent to the kitchens to help with the painstaking prep work for the coming meal; such as peeling and chopping all the veggies, like potatoes, yams, etc.

**/T/**

**/U/**

**Uniforms=** _From corporal to any higher ranking officer, they all have name on breast, rank on shoulder straps. As well as the Wall badge, even the ones in specialized units._ **~Recruits/Cadets:** A green battle dress uniform, with a simple silver leaf-pin on the breast. **~Coporals/General Officers:** A grey battle dress uniform. Corporals have their names and silver talon-pin on their chest. Officers have the same grey BDU with rank on shoulder straps (without talon-pin), and (both) a rectangle grey badge with the Wall depicted, on the shoulder. **~Night's Watch Crows:** a black BDU, with rank on shoulder straps, and Crow Unit patch on shoulder. Circular; white background; big, black, glossy crow at center with wings spread in flight. **~Night's Watch Hawks:** a brown BDU, rank on shoulder straps, Hawk Unit badge on shoulder. Square; green grass background; a weirwood growing at center. **~Night's Watch Gulls:** a blue BDU, rank on shoulder, Gull Unit badge on shoulder. Triangular; blue waves in background, a silver scaled fish leaping at center. ~ **Wandering Crows =** have the black uniform, the wall badge, rank, Crow unit badge, but they also have a diamond shaped badge with a black-purplish background, and a single, black, glossy crow's feather at the center.

**/V/**

**/W/**

**The Wall =** Thousands of years ago it was a defence against the White Walkers, an invading and savage race, but has long turned into the top military recruitment training depot and base in Westeros. It takes on the top students who run the APA course, and trains the recruits for four-years before they become official officers of the Night's Watch. _~_ _The Military has complete control over itself, not the President of the Seven Kingdoms. ~ While the Wall is independent from Westeros, they need the President to implement these such actions on the Country. Such as: the APA course etc._ _~It's rival is the Military outlet across the Narrow Sea that train soldiers called the Unsullied._

 **Wandering Crow =** _A_ older, seasoned officer formerly of the Night's Watch contingent, who is charged with attending the APA annual events to recruit the boys with the best completion and time of the course. **~** _The Wandering Crow assigned to the Winterfell Stadium is none other than Yoren!_

 **The Weirwood or Heart Tree =** The heart tree is a sacred growth and thing of worship of the Old Gods of the Forest. Long ago, when the Andals landed on Westeros and implemented their religion of the Seven, they tore out and desecrated most of the weirwood trees of worship. Few survived, all in the North. Now, in this present day, they are mostly depicted in history books and in museums. The Beyond is the sight of one of the last heart trees.

 **Wildlings =** They are the free people that do not answer to the laws of the Seven Kingdoms or the Rule of the President. They are stationed in the section between The Beyond which is claimed by the Wall, and the Land of Always which has forever gone unexplored/unmapped by the people of the Seven Kingdoms. The are essentially a cult—a self-identified group of people who share a narrowly defined interest or perspective, outcasts, governed by their own laws not acknowledge by the President. They are strictly believers of the Old Gods of the Forest. Some Wildlings wish to enter the Seven Kingdoms and become permanent citizens. If some can not get through, they try to bypass the official process and enter the Kingdoms illegally, often times by boat through the Bay of Ice or Bay of Seals, bypassing the sea-patrols on the water and docking at the nearest ports that are lax in their checking of papers.

 

**/X/**

**/Y/**

**/Z/**

**_*_ ** **********Game/of/Thrones**********

**Author's Note:**

> I swear, this took me forever to write. I hope it was a comprehensive and interesting read. Don’t worry, the story begins next.  
> Thanks for Reading!


End file.
